PTT invests in Thailand port expansion; construction to start in 2023

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Energy firm PTT is investing in a baht (Bt) 30.9bn ($926m) phase III Terminal F expansion of Laem Chabang port, Thailand’s biggest, under a public-private partnership (PPP), with construction set to begin in 2023.

The development project is expected to handle at least 4m 20ft unit (TEU) containers a year, “to meet the growing demand in container shipping and logistics of Laem Chabang port by using state-of-the-art logistics technology”, it said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday.

Commercial operation is due in 2025 for the first terminal and 2029 for the second terminal of the phase III project.

GPC International Terminal (GPC), a recently formed a joint venture of PTT’s wholly owned subsidiary PTT Tank Terminal (30%) with Gulf Energy Development Public (30%) and CHEC Oversea Infrastructure Holding (40%), will operate the project.

The joint-venture firm entered on Thursday into a 35-year PPP contract with the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) for the project.

“This [project] is in line with PTT’s strategy in pursuing Logistics & Infrastructure business and supporting infrastructure growth in Thailand,” said PTT, the parent company of Thai petrochemical major PTT Global Chemical.

The expansion of Laem Chabang port, in the coastal province of Chonburi, is part of the Thai government’s multibillion dollar Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project.

Once phase III construction is completed, the port’s container throughput capacity will be around 18m TEUs per year, of which 6m TEUs per year will be transported by rail, according to a PAT September 2019 report.

Focus article by Pearl Bantillo

($1 = Bt33.36)