Engro Corporation, Pakistan’s premier conglomerate, and Royal Vopak of the Netherlands – the world’s largest bulk liquid storage and handling company – have celebrated 25 years of strategic partnership that has led to mutual growth and helped promote energy security and industrialization in Pakistan.
Engro’s business relationship with Royal Vopak dates back to 1997, when the joint venture of Engro Vopak Terminal Limited (EVTL) was commissioned as a state-of-the-art chemical storage and handling business at Port Qasim. The terminal operations have grown from handling 0.5 million tons of specialized and hazardous bulk liquid cargoes to around 6 million tons per annum. EVTL is the only facility in Pakistan that combines services for bulk storage of chemicals, cryogenic and LPG gases all under one operations. Since inception, it has facilitated investments of more than $2 billion in the downstream petrochemical industry. EVTL provides for over 60 percent of Pakistan’s bulk chemical imports and about 55% of LPG marine imports. Therefore, this venture stands as a key enabler for major industrial activities in Pakistan and helps contribute towards energy security that serves over 1 million households.
In 2015, Engro added the first-ever LNG facility of Pakistan to the terminal. The relationship between the two partners was further strengthened in 2018 when Royal Vopak acquired in total 44 percent in Elengy Terminal Pakistan Ltd (ETPL) to enhance its global LNG portfolio. Built in a record 335 days, the LNG terminal currently handles 68% of all LNG imports into Pakistan. Engro Elengy Terminal has successfully handled over 450 ship-to-ship transfers and now fulfills around 15 percent of the country’s daily domestic gas requirement. As a result, Pakistan has been able to save more than $3 billion through import substitution of furnace oil. EVTL and EETL safely handle almost $4 billion of feedstock and products on an annual basis, without any incidents related to product contamination or loss, health, and the environment. The business has operated without lost-time injury (LTI) for the last 25 years, which is an impeccable safety record even by global standards.
To mark the 25th anniversary of Engro and Royal Vopak partnership, Mr. Dick Richelle (Chairman Executive Board and CEO – Royal Vopak) and Mr. Chris Robblee (President, Vopak Asia & Middle East) toured Pakistan to meet partner Engro Corporation, headed by Mr. Ghias Khan (President and CEO), senior executives of Engro, and visited the terminal facilities at Port Qasim to engage with the employees as well.
According to Mr. Ghias Khan, “This partnership is very special and a great example of Pakistan because it has been very successful in all dimensions. We are now looking forward to greater things not just in Pakistan, but internationally as well. What we value the most about this relationship is the mutual respect and trust, and the desire to learn from each other.”
Mr. Dick Richelle shared that, “We have many partnerships around the globe for quite some time, but what we have in Pakistan is very special. We are not only celebrating 25 years of partnership between Vopak and Engro, but its 25 years of friendship between the two companies. I want to thank everyone at Engro for allowing us to develop this friendship over the period of time, and to do that with the trust we put in EVTL and Elengy.”
