Over USD5bn annual exports targeted: AsiaPak seeks govt help for aluminium smelter at PQ

According to Business Recorder, AsiaPak Investments Limited is seeking state backing for an export-focused aluminium plant at Port Qasim that it estimates could ship abroad more than USD5 billion a year once fully built. The request appears in a letter from chairman Shaheryar Chishty, dated September 23, 2026, and addressed to several ministries and SIFC. It links a dedicated power arrangement for the smelter with a settlement of a long-running late payment interest dispute between PQEPCL and CPPA-G.

Under the proposal, the smelter would sign a back-to-back contract with CPPA-G starting November 30, 2028, and receive electricity at the output terminals of PQEPCL's existing facility. It would pay all capacity payments tied to the plant's full capacity, plus the energy price for power delivered, into a collection account from which PQEPCL draws its dues. The existing agreement would stay in force rather than be novated, and the smelter would fund a dedicated transmission line.

The LPI waiver is conditional: PQEPCL would forgo 60 percent of a USD150 million settlement only if CPPA-G pays the remaining USD60 million, clears all other receivables and secures approvals by October 31, 2026. AsiaPak estimates a total indicative benefit of about USD3.477 billion over 20 years, but notes the figure relies on present tariff inputs and is not a firm saving. A term-capped figure of about USD3.375 billion, limited to April 24, 2048, is also given.