Siam City Cement (Lanka) Limited (INSEE Cement) and Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) have inked an agreement for the construction of Sri Lanka’s largest warehousing facility for dry bulk cargo inside a port. The warehouse will have a capacity of 45,000m3 and will store raw materials needed in cement manufacture. It will be constructed on a 17,300m2 plot of land in the Hambantota Port Industrial Park. The warehouse will allow INSEE to improve the efficiency of cargo unloading operations and improve vessel turnaround time, saving both the company and the country money.
“The warehouse project will tremendously contribute to increasing the supply chain efficiency. It is an investment that will accelerate operational effectiveness. INSEE is the first bulk cargo customer of the port, since the port’s inception, and the largest volume contributor. It is a win-win collaboration between INSEE and HIP,” says Yasas Kasthuriarachchi, General Manager, Supply Chain of INSEE Cement.
INSEE, which has worked with HIP, since 2018, was the port’s first customer for dry bulk cargo, enabling the port to handle a volume of over 1 million MT for them last year. “INSEE Cement has partnered with HIP to increase their volumes because of the high-quality service we provide. Our services have helped to streamline their local supply chain,” says Johnson Liu, CEO, HIPG.
“Due to the deep draft of the port, INSEE is able to handle bigger cargo parcels, enabling the economies of scale advantage. The experienced HIP team, with efficient cargo operations, provides INSEE with a service that is on par with any top-level port in the world. We have helped them achieve higher productivity which is the key for any port user,” says Tissa Wickramasinghe, COO, HIPG.
