The Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, has announced a giant new project to build the “Sea to Steel Green Maritime Industrial Corridor” at Port Qasim in a meeting with Haroon Akhtar Khan, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production. Present at this meeting were important officials from both ministries, as well as some of the top Chinese maritime companies.
The project is that Pakistan will not only use its port for ships but also for the recycling of old ships and the conversion of their steel into new steel for industries. Furthermore, it will employ green production methods to simultaneously lower the carbon footprint of Pakistan’s industry and the shipping sector.
At present, Pakistan annually spends around $6 billion on importing steel from abroad. Furthermore, experts predict that Pakistan’s steel demand will only grow over the years. Consequently, if this project goes through, the country would potentially be making 20% of its steel locally, which would save more than $13 billion over the next decade.
The proposal’s core element was the revival of the Iron Ore and Coal Berth at Port Qasim, which has been out of operation since 2015. The site will be transformed into a modern facility for the recycling of ships, their repair, and the processing of their steel either at Pakistan Steel Mills or a newly-constructed local unit. It would also enable the shipping companies in Pakistan to repair their vessels without the hassle of sending them abroad, thus bringing down their operational costs.
The government officials are confident that this project will be a great source of employment, will attract foreign investment, and will help Pakistan’s self-sufficiency by being less dependent on other nations. The meeting concluded on a positive note with the decision to collaborate in detail on the plan and then present it to the key partners shortly.
