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Stabroek News

Tank-Weld developing $1.2b port in Rio Bueno... Cement bagging facility included
published: Friday | September 29, 2006


Chris Bicknell (left), CEO and financial manager of Tank-Weld Group, in discussion with his brother Bruce Bicknell, managing director of Tank-Weld Metals, at the Courtleigh Hotel, during the press conference to announce the company's $1.2 billion Port Rio Bueno project. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Tank-Weld, a private construction group of companies owned by the Bicknell family, will be developing a bulk cement and bagging facility at Rio Bueno in Trelawny, under a $1.2 billion-plan to build out the pier in the sleepy north coast township, using land acquired from the Hendricksons.

The 14-acre development is to be the first phase of a two-tier plan by Tank-Weld Metals to eventually transport steel and other supplies to markets across the Caribbean whose small size limit the type of ships their ports can accommodate for cargo.

Chris Bicknell, chief executive officer and financial manager of Tank-Weld Group, said the immediate plan was to modify the pier to accommodate steel, cement and, eventually, lumber shipments.

Acquisition of adjoining property

The project is to be fully equity financed from Tank Welds own resources.

"We've been saving for this type of thing for a long time," said Bicknell, speaking with the Financial Gleaner ahead of the official press conference on yesterday.

The first stage of the project is expected to cost an estimated $735 million, which includes the acquisition of the port and adjoining property, the planned extension of the existing 400 metre needle pier to 600 metres, and dredging to accommodate 150 metres/14,000 ton ships that Tank-Weld is expecting will call.

The remaining funds will facilitate construction of several silos and additional warehouse space, the purchase and installation of bagging equipment, as well as a pump for offloading cement.

The Port Rio Bueno development is yet to hurdle environmental and planning approvals but Chris Bicknell says the company has been in discussion with state regulators and local authorities, and has had a series of public consultations, ahead of securing permits.

The target for start up of operation is the third quarter of 2007.

It's one of the biggest investments by a Jamaican owned company announced this year, eclipsing by $100 million the $1.1 billion ethanol plant that the Robert Levy-led Jamaica Broilers Group is developing at Port Esquivel, St Catherine.

Right now, Tank Weld only imports steel, but its investment in the pier will pave the way for its entry into the cement import and distribution market, which Bruce Bicknell, managing director of Tank Weld Metals, said yesterday was a necessary move following the cement crisis earlier this year after sole producer Carib Cement distributed faulty supplies.

"Tank Weld along with the entire country suffered as a result of this and this is one of the main reasons we decided to go along with this development," said Bruce Bicknell at the press conference.

The bulk cement facility will have a 16,000 tonne silo, Chris Bicknell told the Financial Gleaner.

The cement is to be pumped directly from cargo ships through pipes to the bagging area, to be packaged for distribution largely to the western end of the island and other areas along the North Coast, whose cement buyers now have to journey to Kingston to pick up large orders.

According to Chris Bicknell, transporting cement from Kingston to the North Coast is a 10 per cent cost for businesses, which his new facility will alleviate. Part of the company's plan is to make the pier a 'hub for distribution' of construction material, by trucking supplies to buyers.

The pier was being used by the Hendrickson owned Caribbean Broilers group for grain import shipments.

Caribbean Broilers, a poultry operation, which makes animal feed through its subsidiary NutraMix, offloaded the Rio Bueno pier having redirected its grain shipments to Kingston.

The Hendricksons' pull-out left 40 people out of work, said Chris Bicknell, whom Port Rio Bueno plans to employ them, plus another 60-80 workers.

The second phase of Tank Weld's plans, to export construction material to the Caribbean, remains a wish for now, though Bicknell noted that many of the small islands were unable to take business from large ships and were therefore underserved.

The Rio Bueno pier would put Tank Weld in the position to fill the gap, he said.

"We're looking at it as a hub for export," said the group CEO.

But that will require the construction company acquiring a ship of the right size to make the Caribbean runs, he said.

lavern.clarke@gleanerjm.com

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