Americas News
Jamaica-Based Bunker Supplier Eyes Growth, Completes $22.5M Storage Acquisition
Jamaica-based bunker player West Indies Petroleum (WIP) has completed a $22.5 million (JMD2.8 billion) acquisition of an ethanol dehydration plant from The Jamaica Broilers Group (JB), which it plans to turn into a bunker storage facility to support its expanding operations, the physical supplier told Ship & Bunker today.
"It's all part of our effort to make Jamaica the logistics hub of the Caribbean," a spokesperson for the company said.
"It will allow us take advantage of the opportunities presented with the opening of the expanded Panama Canal."
The purchase price for the 600,000 bbl facility also includes $18.5 million in assumed liabilities.
WIP shareholder Charles Chambers told Ship & Bunker that it plans to convert 300,000 bbl of that capacity into bunker fuel storage, a process expected to take around three months.
The remainder is to be used for break bulk, he added.
"This acquisition gives us the opportunity to provide bunkers to shipping lines in Jamaica and the region that do not take fuel in Jamaica today," said Chambers.
WIP started operations in 2013, and today supplies HFO and MGO via road tank wagon and its two barges, the 42,000 bbl capacity WIP BunkerJam 1, and the 27,000 bbl capacity WIP Endeavor.
Having already been very much a local success story, Chambers is now eyeing even further growth.
"It’s a massive move for a company which is owned by 5 Jamaicans. We employ mainly Jamaicans, and our vision is to make this an international company," he said.
