Kuantan Port Consortium and IJM Corporation, Flood Risk Assessment to Guide Drainage Upgrades at Kuantan Port
Kuantan Port is on the eastern seaboard of Peninsular Malaysia, close to a large petrochemical industry area (Kuantan Port, n.d.). It is run by Kuantan Port Consortium Sdn Bhd, which is 60:40 owned by IJM Corporation Berhad and Beibu Gulf Holding (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd (Kuantan Port, n.d.). In the year to March 2026, flooding at Kuantan Port disrupted the site and cost about RM1.12 million to respond to (IJM, 2026). IJM then used a group climate risk assessment and a site flood risk assessment to guide its response.
Approach
Screen all sites for climate hazards. IJM's FY2026 climate risk assessment covered its operations in Peninsular Malaysia, including its toll and port concessions. It looked at four hazards: extreme heat, rainfall and riverine flooding, landslides and coastal flooding (IJM, 2026).
Use set scenarios. The physical risk assessment used two scenarios, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, over short, medium and long term horizons (IJM, 2026).
Record what flooding did to operations. The report lists the work caused by flooding at Kuantan Port: staff for site clearance, pothole repairs and handling of flooded containers. It puts a cost of about RM1.12 million on this response (IJM, 2026).
Study the site. After the FY2026 flooding events, a detailed flood risk assessment was initiated (IJM, 2026).
Turn findings into a phased capital plan. The findings led to a multi-year, phased programme to upgrade the port's drainage, with costs set out for each time horizon (IJM, 2026).
Results
The first phase of drainage works began in FY2026, with RM0.85 million of capital spending. A further RM0.70 million is expected in the short term, RM7.71 million in the medium term and RM4.71 million in the long term for structural upgrading of the drainage infrastructure (IJM, 2026).
Transferability
DMC ports can take three steps from this case. First, record each flood or weather event with the tasks and costs it caused, such as site clearance, pavement repair and damaged cargo. Second, use those records to trigger a site flood risk assessment that applies climate scenarios. Third, set out the resulting works in phases linked to the time horizons in the port's risk framework, so that spending can be planned and tracked.
Sources
All information used for this case study was based on publicly available resources.