Kochi port is fast emerging as a major cement import hub with the State-owned Malabar Cements approaching to set up an automated cement handling and bagging unit as well as raw materials import facility in the port.
A senior port official told BusinessLine that Malabar Cements has projected a minimum throughput of three lakh tonnes per annum which can be extendable up to six lakhs apart from intermediate products and raw materials such as clinker, limestone and coal.
The port identified 7 acres near the Ernakulam Wharf and plans to allot the Q-7 berth in the wharf to accommodate ships of 35,000 tonnes of parcel size. The availability of 10.5 metre depth in the berth would help the company to handle ships coming with import raw materials due to freight advantage. Since the Malabar Cements is a state-owned PSU, the port can offer the land on a nomination basis.
However, the port management has strictly informed the cement company to install zero pollution system for handling clinkers due to the possibility of air and environment pollution. With the presence of the manufacturing facility of Malabar Cements at Walayar in Palakkad and the elaborate retail network of the company, the official said that there is a good scope for getting more cement and raw material imports through the port.