ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

AWAITING CLEARER PICTURE: Management goes ahead with expansion plans and moves to improve net profit

WHILE the cloud of uncertainty continues to hover over the fate of Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB), it’s business as usual for the management of the country’s oldest port.

“We are just as anxious as you are about the new owner and their plans for Penang Port,” said PPSB’s managing director Datuk Ahmad Ibnihajar last Friday before a cocktail reception for the port’s users. Also present was PPSB’s chairman Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya.

Confirming a Business Times report that PPSB is yet to be officially notified that Seaport Terminal (Johor) Sdn Bhd, owned by tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary, had won the bid to privatise the 226-year-old port, he said:

“We have read that the government is still negotiating with the new owner, but we remain in the dark as to what is exactly happening.

“In the meantime, it’s business as usual for us, as we go about with our plans to expand the port and better the net profit of RM15 milllion which we recorded last year,” he said.

While projecting a modest growth rate of between two per cent and three per cent for this year, Ahmad cautioned that if the global economy worsens, growth could remain flat.

The Transport Ministry, in a written reply at the Dewan Rakyat this month, had confirmed that Seaport Terminal had won the bid to privatise PPSB. The ministry said that one of the conditions to be included in the privatisation agreement was that the successful company must bear the cost of dredging Penang Port.

It was reported that the RM351 million dred-ging scheme for the northern part of the Penang channel has yet to take off although the amount had been allocated under the 10th Malaysia Plan. The project to deepen the channel from the current 11.5m to 14.5m is vital to bring large transshipments into the port.

“We have a five-year plan to improve the port’s performance,” Ahmad said, “and the new machines (seven units of Super Post-Panamax cranes), which are currently under-utilised because of the much needed capital dredging, is yet to be carried out.

“We are not worried about who the port’s new owner will be as all we want is to get on with our job of realising the best that Penang Port can offer and for the good of the state, we should all get on with business and the sooner the capital dredging can be carried out, the better.”

Ahmad also said that it was unfair to blame his staff on the port’s performance and compare it with other ports. “It has been a challenge for PPSB to manage the expectation of port users who have been wanting to see the port grow for a long time.”

Penang Port was incorporated in 1993 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Minister of Finance Inc. The management and operations of the port were corporatised in 1994 under the government’s privatisation programme, and Penang Port took over all the facilities and services from the Penang Port Commission (the regulatory body for the port) which licensed Penang Port to operate, manage and maintain all port facilities and services. The 30-year concession period ends in 2023.

By: Business Times

Middle Eastern investors may invest some RM1.5 billion in a petroleum tank farm and halal industrial park in Penang Port.

Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya yesterday said potential investors have approached PPSB to set up shop in the port area to tap the export potential of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle.

“We are looking at reclaiming some 400 hectares of land to accommodate the proposed tank farm and halal hub.

“We also have plans to house a free commercial zone and free industrial zone within the port area to facilitate the easier movement of goods for investors,” Dr Hilmi told reporters after a Penang Port Commission port consultative committee meeting chaired by PPC chairman Tan Cheng Liang.

The closed-door meeting, which was attended by officials from the finance and transport ministries and the Economic Planning Unit, was also attended by Penang port users.

The proposed area for land reclamation would be south of the Butterworth Port on mainland Penang.

“Since we have received positive indication of the port’s RM350 million request from the federal government to carry out capital dredging works under the 10th Malaysia Plan, we are hoping that the sand from the dredging activities can be used for our land reclamation purposes,” he said.

The north channel dredging of the port, from its current 11.5m depth to 14.5m, was supposed to be carried out between 2010 and 2012 to serve main line operators calling at the port.

However, the government deferred the project in its mid-term review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

Dr Hilmi noted the tank farm is likely to bring in a RM1 billion investment, while the proposed halal hub will rake in an estimated RM500 million.

“We are looking at potential investors to help us finance this project,” he added, “since we do not want to borrow any funds.

“We have had interest shown by parties from China and the Middle East so far to help us in the funding,” he added.

Several investors – such as those engaged in liquid crystal display production – have stated that they want to be located in an area where shipping of the goods can be seamless.

“Our next step would be to call in all interested parties to map out a detailed plan, before we proceed with obtaining permission from the federal authorities via the finance and transport ministries.”

Dr Hilmi, a former finance ministry parliamentary secretary, gave an assurance that the proposed Penang Port expansion plan would in no way end up like the scandal-hit Port Klang Free Zone project in Selangor.

By: Marina Emmanuel

PENANG: Bangladesh is keen to make the Penang port its sister port as part of efforts to enhance trade and relationships between the two nations, its Minister of Shipping, Shahjahan Khan, said.

He said Bangladesh, a developing country, was keen to have a greater understanding of the operations of a modern port such as the Penang port.

“We do not have any sister port and we feel that the Penang port will be ideal,” he told a media briefing after a tour of the newly-completed Swettenham Pier International Cruise Terminal here on Tuesday.

Shahjahan is leading a delegation on a visit to Penang port.

Accompanying them were Penang Port Commission chairman Tan Cheng Liang and Penang Port Sdn Bhd chairman Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya.

He said he would discuss the matter with Bangladesh prime minister soon.

“I hope to sign the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Penang port soon. We are impressed with the development of the port here,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tan said she hoped the MOU could be signed soon as it would help enhance the development of the ports.

“If we sign the MOU with the port, especially Chittagong port, it will help strengthen the relationships between the two nations in terms of port operations,” she said.

She said Penang port has made a steady progress since it was privatised in 1994 and its throughput increased by 3.1 per cent to 958,476 twenty-foot equivalent (TEUs) last year from 929,639 TEUs in 2008.

Tan said the Penang port would undertake projects including the acquisition of container equipment and increase the post-Panamax gantry cranes to 16.

She said the newly-completed international passenger ship terminal at the Swettenham Pier International Cruise Terminal was expected to attract one million passenger arrivals this year.

“With the capabilty of the terminal to receive bigger ships it is expected that the number of passengers staying over in Penang will increase.

“The terminal also has facilities for ferries plying between Penang and Langkawi and between Penang and Medan, Indonesia,” she said.

The 15,000 sq ft terminal also has houses the Customs and Immigration offices and quarantine area. – 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