ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

SINGAPORE: Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), Malaysia’s largest container terminal, is confident of double-digit growth next year despite a challenging economic environment.

“We are expanding under a three-year modernisation plan, which will be completed around May next year,” said chief executive officer Glen Hilton.

PTP is investing RM1.4 billion over three years in a modernisation plan designed to meet the docking requirements of mega-container vessels.

Hilton noted that PTP’s overall capacity, with the first 12 berths, amounted to 8.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

“Last year, we did 7.7 million TEUs. The market fluctuates up and down but we know we can grow. We have the capacity. With the new berths next year, we expect to record double-digit growth. The future is bright,” he said after welcoming the world’s largest container vessel, the Tripple-E “Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller”, on Sunday.

“Although we are in tough economic times, we will continue to work well with our customers like Maersk Line to attain continued growth.”

The newly built vessel called at PTP, which serves as Maersk Line’s Southeast Asia Transhipment Hub, on its maiden voyage between Far East Asia and Europe.

Being in the transshipment market, Hilton said the majority of the business was from other countries.

“We are in a great position, given PTP’s location in the heart of Asean, which is a growth market.

“We see some impact (of the economic downturn) from countries like Japan and South Korea, but the growth is there,” he explained.

In terms of the local market, Hilton said: “We are seeing a little bit of growth here. We are expecting the market to grow primarily on the back of great global shipping access. This is one of the benefits for the people in Johor and for companies that are importing and exporting goods into Malaysia.

“This is because they have access to bigger ships and the biggest network in the world, right at their front door,” he said, adding that it was also good for the local economy.

When asked on competition, Hilton said: “We have been in the transhipment market and face competition from Singapore.

“We also have competition with Port Klang and another port, which is literally beside us,” he said.

However, he said competition is good.

Saying that each port has its own challenges, including PTP, Hilton said: “We are committed to being the most efficient port in the region and that is our goal and we are very focused on it.”

On new shipping lines, he said: “We always have shipping lines typically for the local market calling at PTP.” Bernama

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

Terminal operator Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) plans to boost productivity this year, newly appointed chairman Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said yesterday.

Although shipping companies and ports were hit hard by the global economic downturn, Penang Port’s volume rose 3 per cent in 2009.

In a statement issued yesterday, Dr Hilmi said in 2009, Penang Port handled a total of 958,476 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) compared with 929,639 TEUs in 2008.

“Our main priorities now are to continually improve our productivity, provide a range of diverse supporting port services and monitor our expansion plans in great detail”, he said.

PPSB has embarked on several key projects.

“The first phase in the expansion of dedicated container terminal will include a new 600m wharf extension to the existing 900 metre wharf, with new decking area for export container. A third access bridge is under construction. Simultaneously, for the second part of this project, a new back decking area will be built parallel to the existing 900m wharf.”

Construction for this project is 65 per cent done and four months ahead of schedule.

To complement the expansion, Penang Port has taken delivery of seven Post-Panamax cranes, each costing RM25 million.

While four of the cranes were delivered in November 2009, Dr Hilmi said the remainder arrived last month.

“A Post-Panamax crane,” Dr Hilmi noted, “can reach 16 rows of containers on board the ship. The new cranes with its twin-lift capabilities will speed up handling operations as it can pick up two containers at a time.

“With these new projects, productivity at the port will be enhanced with a new target of crane productivity at more than 25 TEUs moves per hour.”

By: Btimes.com.my

Container traffic through Port Klang, the country’s busiest container port, fell by 8.3 per cent last year, as the global economic downturn continues to hurt the country’s exports.

The port handled 7.3 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units), the standard measurement for shipping containers, compared with 7.9 million TEUs in 2008.

In terms of tonnage handled, traffic through the port was 133.8 million tonnes, down 8.8 per cent over the previous year.

More than half, or 61 per cent of the container volume, was from Westports, which generated 4.451 million TEUs. Northport accounted for the remaining 39 per cent or 2.858 million TEUs.

Transhipment cargo took the largest share of Port Klang’s total throughput, contributing 58 per cent, with local boxes constituting the remaining 42 per cent .

However, transhipment volume also saw a 9 per cent drop to 4.3 million TEUs for the 12 months.

Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Kee Lian Yong said the decline in container and cargo throughput is in line with the global trend.

“(Nevertheless,) the port’s container volume was better than our earlier forecast of a 10 per cent drop. Overall Port Klang also fared better than other major ports in the world, which saw a 10-15 per cent drop in traffic,” he told Business Times.

Kee said Port Klang is expected to post throughput growth in 2010, returning to 2008 volume of 8 million TEUs.

“We remain cautiously optimistic as the shipping community is predicting that 2010 will still be a tough year,” he added.

According to Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd’s most recent projections, the market will have to wait until 2012 before global container port volume exceeds 2008 levels again. It expects Far East and Southeast Asian container traffic to recover faster than that in other regions.

“In 2010, the market should brace for another tough year,” Shipping Association of Malaysia chairman Ooi Lean Hin had said in an earlier interview .

By: Kang Siew Li

Malaysian ports handled 10 per cent more containers in the second quarter of the year compared to the first, reflecting a recovery in both domestic and transhipment cargo.

Container traffic at the 10 major ports rose to 3.79 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) from 3.44 million in the periods reviewed.

Transhipment traffic, comprising almost two-thirds of the total, was up 11 per cent to 2.48 million TEUs from 2.22 million. Transhipment cargo is that which arrives in the country and is transferred to another ship before continuing to its final destination.

Export containers showed a 10.2 per cent increase to 670,718 TEUs, while import traffic rose 4.4 per cent to 640,469 TEUs.

In the January-June period, however, container throughput fell 7.7 per cent to 7.24 million TEUs from the first half of last year. Cargo tonnage was down 11.6 per cent to 168,806 tonnes.

The Transport Ministry’s special maritime adviser, Datuk Captain Abdul Rahim Abd. Aziz, said the drop in first half container volume was in line with the performance of other ports in the Asean region, which saw 15-30 per cent declines.

“For instance, ports in the Philippines reported a decline in cargo volume of an average 20.6 per cent in the first half, while Vietnam’s port container throughput was down between 14 per cent and 30 per cent and Thailand, an average drop of 35 per cent,” he told Business Times in an interview.

“While container traffic seemed to have stabilised in the second quarter, port operators in Asean remain uncertain whether the market has hit bottom.

“At the recent Asean Ports Association (APA) working committee meeting in Kota Kinabalu, the most optimistic prediction of a recovery was from the middle of 2010,” said Abdul Rahim, who is also the APA working committee chairman.

To survive the current economic downturn, port operators have resorted to various cost-cutting strategies, including sending fewer employees overseas for trips or meetings and deferring purchases of new equipment, he added.

Port Klang, comprising Northport and Westports, solidified its position as the largest container port in the country.

Its container throughput rose 7.8 per cent in the second quarter compared to the first three months. It moved 1.73 million TEUs against 1.6 million before.

Transhipment volume was 996,508 TEUs, up 4.6 per cent from the first three months, and 57.7 per cent of Port Klang’s total throughput.

The Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Johor continued to be the second largest container port, handling 1.47 million TEUs in the second quarter.

It recorded 17.6 per cent growth from 1.25 million TEUs in the first quarter, with 94.4 per cent of all volume coming from transhipment.

Bintulu Port saw 16 per cent growth to 57,895 TEUs from 49,875 in the first quarter.

Johor Port handled 216,744 TEUs in the second quarter, up 7.3 per cent from 201,915 in the first, thanks to the increase in transhipment and export cargo.

Penang Port was the only port to record a decline in the quarters reviewed, down 24.2 per cent to 151,165 TEUs from 199,391.

By : Kang Siew Li

AS the economy shifts to a lower gear, it may be the right time for the local port industry to focus on improving infrastructure and raising efficiency levels.

This will enable port operators to provide cost-effective services to customers in the near term while ensuring that when the world trade picks up, they are able to seize the opportunities in the longer term.

In recent years, major ports in Malaysia have utilised almost full capacity to cater to the booming business, which in turn has prompted them to embark on major expansions.

According to Malaysia’s Maritime Institute senior fellow Nazery Khalid, it is crucial for local ports to continually improve their infrastructure, efficiency, productivity and performance to offer customers value for money, especially in this climate that is proving to be extremely challenging for the shipping industry.

“Unlike Westports, Northport and Port of Tanjung Pelepas, which are on par with the world’s best container ports, there are some other local ports that can improve their services.

“The other local ports must benchmark themselves against regional heavyweights like the Singapore Port, Shanghai Port and Hong Kong Port which are among the world’s top five container ports in terms of volume.

“Malaysian ports can certainly improve on many fronts to enhance their competitiveness to attract more main-line operators (shipping companies) to call at their terminals,” he adds.

He suggests that port operators thoroughly assess their current positions and chart their next course of action to weather the global economic downturn.

“Amid the economic and seaborne trade slowdown, port operators must plan their resources meticulously and find ways to harness their strengths to place themselves on a stronger platform.

“Now is the time to identify areas of weaknesses which they may have overlooked during busier times,” Nazery says.

As the most cost-efficient mode of trade transport, where 90% of goods are transported via sea, the shipping industry is vulnerable to any slowdown in the world economies against a backdrop of declining trade volume.

On the flip side, it is also well positioned to benefit from the up-tick in economic activity.

By SHARIDAN M.ALI

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