ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

Northport (Malaysia) Bhd has emerged as winner of the Asian Freight and Supply Chains awards (AFSCA) 2010, beating seven other ports in the region.

It will reactivate berth expansion plan on economic recovery

PETALING JAYA: NCB Holdings Bhd projects a volume increase of 10% to 15% and will reactivate its expansion plan at Northport (M) Bhd this year in line with the current economic recovery trends.

Northport, a port operating subsidiary of NCB, posted a 5% decline in volume to 2.9 million twenty-foot equivalents units (TEUs) last year due to the global economic downturn.

Chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid said the positive volume outlook this year was for containerised and conventional cargo.

We only expand to commensurate the business that we have: NCB HOLDINGS BHD CHAIRMAN TUN AHMAD SARJI ABDUL HAMID

“And since there are perceptible trends in economic recovery, the group has decided to reactivate the expansion of berth 8A this year,” he told reporters after the company AGM yesterday.

The expansion of berth 8A or container terminal 3 is part of Northport’s RM585mil five-year expansion plan announced in 2008. The project was postponed due to the global economic meltdown.

Ahmad Sarji said works on berth 8A would commence in two months for completion in about 18 months.

“The capital expenditure (capex) on the project has been revised where the cost will be determined by tendered price.

“Northport will continue to be prudent. We only expand to commensurate the business that we have and to retain our customers,” he said, adding that Northport’s 30-year lease agreement would expire in 2013 and it was doing the necessary to renew the lease.

Northport managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader said the revised capex on berth 8A was line with the drop in raw materials prices and construction cost.

He also forecast closing the port’s first quarter this year with a 24% year-on-year volume increase.

“But, it must be noted that the previous corresponding period was the worst quarter that the port recorded last year in tandem with the global economic downturn,” he said.

On NCB’s other business in container haulage and logistics via Kontena Nasional Bhd (KN), Ahmad Sarji said the company now was on the fast track to fully utilise its sizeable assets in an effort to move into third-party logistics (3PL) business.

“The move into 3PL is considered a natural progression for a haulage company like KN. Besides our prime movers, we also have over three million sq ft of open yard and 500,000 sq ft covered warehouse.

“About 50% to 60% of our 3PL customers last year were our current haulage customers,” he said.

NCB recorded a 12.1% drop in total revenue to RM831.4mil in its last financial year ended Dec 31.

However, its pre-tax profit was 2.3% higher at RM167.9mil.

NCB has also declared final and special dividend of 21 sen per share.

Northport recorded a pre-tax profit of RM148mil on revenue of RM611.9mil last year.

Meanwhile, KN posted a pre-tax profit of RM9.7mil and revenue of RM219.5mil for the year under review.

NCB Holdings Bhd’s direct subsidiary, Northport (Malaysia) Bhd, is expected to register an increased cargo volume of between 10 per cent and 15 per cent this year.

Northport Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Basheer Hassan said the company sees an increase in both the container and cargo business segments amid an improving economy.

“Northport registered a total volume of 2.858 million TEUs in 2009, a decrease of five per cent compared to 3.006 million previously,” Basheer told reporters after NCB Holdings” annual general meeting (AGM), in Petaling Jaya today.

He said the container mix at Northport stood at 50 per cent for both import and export containers.

Transshipment containers made up 38.6 per cent of the total volumed handled by Northport.

Under the conventional cargo business, Northport handled a combined volume of 6.53 million freight weight tonnes (FWT) last year.

Meanwhile, NCB Holdings Group”s chairman, Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid said Northport continued to be the leading gateway for indigenous trade, handling 58.6 per cent of the country”s import and export volume passing through Port Klang.

He said the total volume of containers under all classes handled through Port Klang during 2009 was 7,309,779 TEUs, reflecting a decline of 8.3 per cent compared with 7,973,579 TEUs recorded in 2008.

On the planned construction of Wharf 8A, Ahmad Sarji said the group remained ready to re-activate the plan.

It would be to meet its customers’ demand for enhanced capacity to service their growth in business.

“Given the current growth, we are quite optimistic that we need to expand the capacity. This was held back in 2009 in the last quarter because of economic downturn.”

With the indication of growth now, it would be sustainable to invest, said Basheer.

He said Northport will call for tender in one or two weeks for building of the wharf.

The size of the wharf will be 300 meters in length and 17 meters in depth.

This will allow ships to berth at any one time there, he added. — Bernama

Northport (M) Bhd’s commitment to human capital development was recognised recently when it bagged the 2009 Human Resources Ministry HR Development Award under the major employer (services sector) category.

The award, organised annually by Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Bhd, is the country’s leading event to recognise leadership and benchmark human resource practices.

Northport managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader said that as a service-related company, Northport placed high importance on human capital development.

Datuk Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader

This was to ensure service levels offered by the port meet global standards, he said in a statement.

“We are a global port serving the needs of more than 100 global shipping lines which connect Northport to more than 300 ports worldwide.

“Thus the expectation is very high on the delivery standards and performance levels which cannot be achieved unless we have well-trained and dedicated workforce in Northport,” he said.

Northport has 2,700 employees.

Basheer said in view of the heavy responsibility placed on the port’s workers, Northport had given considerable importance to retraining and skills upgrading.

“We have a dynamic human resources development programme which aims to equip our employees with specialised and up-to-date skills. This is especially since businesses are becoming more competitive and demanding,” he said.

Northport is Malaysia’s largest multi-purpose port. It offers the widest shipping connectivity among ports in the country.

By: The Star Online

NORTHPORT is considering to delay the upgrading of one of its wharfs due to the economic slowdown.

“I understand that Northport is considering holding back the upgrade but whether they should hold it or not is another question,” Port Klang Authority general manager Lim Thean Shiang said during a briefing in Port Klang last Tuesday.

He said certain developments were necessary to cater to continued growth even though there may not be an immediately need for it.

“During recession one can only position oneself to be ready for the up and coming growth cycle, and if we do not have the adequate facilities available, how do we capitalise on such opportunities?” Lim said.

He said Port Klang would monitor the situation and hold consultations with ports on issues involving the development of the ports.

Northport managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader was quoted as saying in November last year that it would keep its RM500 million expansion plans on track.

The plan includes the development of a 350m container berth, bringing the container quayline at the port to a total of 3.4km.

By : btimes.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Three major ports in Malaysia are confident they will meet their volume targets this year but are bracing for slower growth next year due to the global economic downturn.

Ports that have been recording substantial growth over the years have not been spared the whiplash from the global economic crisis.

Datuk Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader

Northport (M) Bhd managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader told StarBiz the port would be able to achieve its volume target of slightly less than three million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) this year, up 4.9% from 2.86 million TEUs recorded last year.

“This is because we had done well in the first half of this year but the last quarter is a little bit slow,” he told reporters after delivering a talk the Selangor Freight Forwarders and Logistics Association in Port Klang recently.

Northport’s November volume stood at 261,251 TEUs, down 7.3% against the same month last year.

Going forward, Basheer said Northport would be very concerned about the country’s economy as it depended a lot on trade.

“If Malaysian trade is affected, of course it will have some impact on our business. But with low gearing of almost 0%, we are quite robust to withstand the onslaught,” he said, adding that Northport had survived the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98.

He added that Northport would continue to operate prudently and would look into postponing taking on less important costs, such as advertising, next year.

Echoing a similar oulook, Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd will not be expecting the usual double-digit volume growth next year that it had been enjoying previously.

But the port is still expecting to post a 16.3% volume growth to five million TEUs this year.

Ruben Emir Gnanalingam

For the month of November, Westports still recorded a growth of 5.4% to 390,000 TEUs against November last year.

Executive director Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said the port industry would see some decline in volume next year.

“Looking at the current global economy and its prospects going forward into 2009, it will take a long time to recover, maybe until 2010,” he told StarBiz.

Malaysia’s leading transhipment terminal operator, Port of Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd (PTP), is also on track to meet its volume target of 5.8 million TEUs this year, an increase of 6.2% against last year, although it has felt a slight volume contraction in the last quarter of this year.

PTP recorded a decrease of 2.5% to 449,000 TEUs in November compared to the same month last year.

The port expects to achieve commendable growth next although it has acknowledged that it would not be as robust as in previous years.

Alan Tan

Transways Logistics (M) Sdn Bhd, a logistics provider in Port Klang, expects the volume of exports to decrease further after the first quarter of next year.

Its managing director Alan Tan told StarBiz that based on the current situation where furniture and food exporters were facing shrinking demand, the export volume at Port Klang was expected to fall between 20% and 30% next year, especially after the first quarter.

“But local logistics companies such as Transways are currently experiencing a surge in demand from multinationals as they open more tenders to other players which ignite competitive pricing rather than depending on one or two logistics providers.

“This is in tandem with the cost cutting measures of the multinationals in this gloomy economy.

“Warehouse business is also doing well to store commodities that are currently having price downtrend such as scrap metal,” he said.

By SHARIDAN M. ALI

Terminal operator Northport (Malaysia) Bhd has embarked on a cost-cutting exercise that will see all recruitment frozen and advertising spending slashed, in anticipation of worsening economic conditions.

“Many people are predicting that things are going to get worse next year, and so we are preparing ourselves to ride through this crisis. An obvious way is to cut costs,” said its managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader.

He was speaking to reporters after delivering a talk titled “Expanding the Operating Capacity of Northport through Implementing Strategic Initiatives” at the Selangor Freight Forwarders and Logistics Association in Port Klang last week.

Basheer said the port has put a freeze on staff recruitment and postponed or cut spending in areas such as advertising.

“However, we have no plans to retrench staff. In fact, it did not cross our mind,” he said, adding that the port had recruited about 30 people in the last three months.

Basheer believes that Northport’s restructuring and merger exercise between Klang Container Terminal Bhd and Kelang Port Management Bhd in 2000 will put the port in good stead to withstand the current downturn.

This includes its strategy over the past few years of focusing on revenue and profit growth instead of volume growth; the optimal utilisation of its assets such as land, labour and capital; and moving to higher-margin businesses comprising container, conventional cargo, logistics and automotive.

“Because of our prudent policy where we have kept our gearing to almost zero, we are well positioned to withstand the current crisis,” he said.

Northport is also keeping its RM500 million expansion plans on track, which include the development of a 350m container berth, bringing the container quayline at the port to a total of 3.4km.

Basheer also said the port remained on track to meet its forecast of three million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in container throughput this year.

However, he warned that the port has started seeing a drop in cargo volume in the fourth quarter of this year.

“Northport’s focus is import and export trade, particularly intra-Asian trade. As such, this recession is a concern to us because if Malaysian trade is affected, Northport will also be affected.

“We are starting to feel the effects of the global slowdown in the current quarter. But the drop (in cargo volume) is nothing to be seriously alarmed about yet,” said Basheer.

By : btimes.com.my