KARACHI: American agricultural company Cargill has made its first investment in Pakistan out of a promised $200 million by acquiring 25 percent stakes in Fauji Akbar Portia Marine Terminal (FAP), Pakistani officials said this week.
The FAP facility at Karachi’s Port Bin Qasim is a fully automated grain and fertilizer terminal capable of handling four million metric tons of dry cargo per annum.
Last week, Cargill and the Pakistan army-run Fauji Foundation signed a long term strategic partnership, under which the American firm has acquired a minority equity stake in FAP, a bulk terminal, and will handle grains, cereals, rice, oilseeds and fertilizers at Karachi city’s Port Qasim.
“Cargill has acquired 25% shares of the FAP to expand the operations of the terminal to handle more cargo,” Mahmood Moulvi, an adviser to the ministry of maritime affairs, told Arab News on Tuesday.
FAP, which started operations in 2010, is a joint venture between Fauji Foundation, Akbar Group of Companies and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP). Cargill is one of the largest importers of soybean, palm oil and palm oil products into Pakistan.
In a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in mid-January 2019, an executive team of Cargill had announced a $200 million investment in Pakistan over the next five years. FAP’s equity purchase is part of the promised investment, according to an official at Cargill Pakistan who declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media on the matter.
“It is the first investment which the company had promised last year,” the official said. “It will augment the company’s investment strategy of expansion including increasing handling and storage capacity. More investment will be made in the future as the company is exploring options in commodity trading, feed milling, dairy and poultry processing, oilseed crushing.”
Cargill, headquartered in Minneapolis, United States, has a presence in over 70 countries. Its global expertise, other than in commodity trade, lies in areas including farming, feed milling, meat processing, oilseed crushing. Cargill owns and operates, either wholly or partly, more than 30 ports around the world, of which four are in Asia.
“To conclude this transaction at this point in time is a clear signal and validation of the Pakistan opportunity seen by the world’s leading player in agriculture commodities,” Waqar Malik, chairman of Fauji Foundation said in a statement, adding ”With its global port experience, Cargill will help drive greater operational efficiencies for the port to reach its potential of handling agri-cargo safely and efficiently.”
US agri firm Cargill acquires 25% stake in Pakistani bulk terminal
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US agri firm Cargill acquires 25% stake in Pakistani bulk terminal
- Cargill has made its first investment in Pakistan out of a promised $200 million by acquiring minority stake in Fauji Akbar Portia Marine Terminal
- FAP facility at Karachi’s Port Bin Qasim is a fully automated grain and fertilizer terminal capable of handling four million metric tons of dry cargo a year
Pakistan PM orders accelerated privatization of power sector to tackle losses
- Tenders to be issued for privatization of three major electricity distribution firms, PMO says
- Sharif says Pakistan to develop battery energy storage through public-private partnerships
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday directed the government to speed up privatization of state-owned power companies and improve electricity infrastructure nationwide, as authorities try to address deep-rooted losses and inefficiencies in the energy sector that have weighed on the economy and public finances.
Pakistan’s electricity system has long struggled with financial distress caused by a combination of factors including theft of power, inefficient collection of bills, high costs of generating electricity and a large burden of unpaid obligations known as “circular debt.” In the first quarter of the current financial year, government-owned distribution companies recorded losses of about Rs171 billion ($611 million) due to poor bill recovery and operational inefficiencies, official documents show. Circular debt in the broader power sector stood at around Rs1.66 trillion ($5.9 billion) in mid-2025, a sharp decline from past peaks but still a major fiscal drain.
Efforts to contain these losses have been a focus of Pakistan’s economic reform program with the International Monetary Fund, which has urged structural changes in the energy sector as part of financing conditions. Previous government initiatives have included signing a $4.5 billion financing facility with local banks to ease power sector debt and reducing retail electricity tariffs to support economic recovery.
“Electricity sector privatization and market-based competition is the sustainable solution to the country’s energy problems,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a meeting reviewing the roadmap for power sector reforms, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The meeting reviewed progress on privatization and infrastructure projects. Officials said tenders for modernizing one of Pakistan’s oldest operational hubs, Rohri Railway Station, will be issued soon and that the Ghazi Barotha to Faisalabad transmission line, designed to improve long-distance transmission of electricity, is in the initial approval stages. While not all power-sector decisions were detailed publicly, the government emphasized expanding private sector participation and completing priority projects to strengthen the electricity grid.
In another key development, the prime minister endorsed plans to begin work on a battery energy storage system with participation from private investors to help manage fluctuations in supply and demand, particularly as renewable energy sources such as solar and wind take a growing role in generation. Officials said the concept clearance for the storage system has been approved and feasibility studies are underway.
Government briefing documents also outlined steps toward shifting some electricity plants from imported coal to locally mined Thar coal, where a railway line expansion is underway to support transport of fuel, potentially lowering costs and import dependence in the long term.
State authorities also pledged to address safety by converting unmanned railway crossings to staffed ones and to strengthen food safety inspections at stations, underscoring broader infrastructure and service improvements connected to energy and transport priorities.
