ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

Port Klang, comprising Northport and Westports, has retained its title as the country’s busiest container port in the first half of this year, with a 48.3 per cent share of the total number of containers handled by all Malaysian ports.

Its rival, Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor, was listed second busiest, handling 35.4 per cent of the country’s total container throughput.

Port Klang moved 4.31 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) of cargo in the January-June 2010 period, up 29.3 per cent from 3.33 million TEUs a year earlier, as the global economic recovery boosted cargo traffic, said Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Kee Lian Yong.

It handled 856,110 TEUs of exports, up 25.8 per cent from a year earlier, and the volume of imports rose 18.2 per cent to 828,082 TEUs. Transshipment volume rose 34.5 per cent to 2.62 million TEUs.

Kee said Westports led the way in the first half of 2010 with a 30 per cent increase in container volume from the same period in 2009, handling 2.65 million TEUs, while Northport saw a 28 per cent increase to 1.66 million TEUs last year.

“We are on track to achieve our stretch target of 8.4 million TEUs for the whole year, where Westports is projected to handle 5.2 million TEUs and Northport 3.2 million TEUs. The fourth quarter is traditionally the busiest quarter of the year,” Kee told Business Times in an interview.

Port Klang moved 7.31 million TEUs last year, a decline of 8.3 per cent compared with 7.97 million TEUs recorded in 2008.

“The projection for 2011 is a growth of 10 to 12 per cent in container volume (from 2010),” said Kee.

Meanwhile, in terms of tonnage handled, traffic through Port Klang in the first five months (January-May) of this year increased by 36.8 per cent to 65.54 million tonnes from 47.90 million tonnes a year earlier.

“PKA and the two terminal operators (Northport and Westports) took this time of slow-paced economy and downturn to reshape our strategies. These strategies have hastened and increased our growth even more so with the global economic recovery as can be seen by our growth percentage for the first half of 2010,” said Kee.

He added that the port authority is aware that emerging ports in Asia such as Vietnam and Sri Lanka pose stiff competition to Port Klang.

“In order for us to be competitive, we are constantly looking at our operations to ensure (we offer) effective and efficient service, are service oriented, and have cost-effective operations and a commercial competitive environment,” he said.

By: Kang Siew Li

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