17-WCN-Feb09:Layout 1 25/2/09 07:47 Page 1
PORT NEWS
WorldCargo
news
Kaohsiung falls in
Malaysian ports see box growth
box port rankings
Malaysia’s container ports expect vol- Some politicians have criticised the of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), Johor, Bintulu
umes to grow this year despite the glo- stimulus plan, saying it is insufficient to and Sapangar Bay.
bal economic slowdown, although pro- avert the full force of the world recession. At Port Kelang, Northport saw
jections may have to be scaled down Ports along the eastern coast are ben- throughput rise 5% to 3M TEU last year
Kaohsiung, the world’s eighth busiest con- alongside its four berths and will be op-
from previous estimates in line with the efiting from their proximity to neigh- and volumes at Westports were up 16%
tainer port in 2007, dropped to No 10 erational in 2013. Of the other five ter-
government’s readjusted gross domes- bouring Brunei, Indonesia and the Phil- to just under 5M TEU. Westports has
last year due to strong competition from minals, only one has draft of 14.5m.
tic product forecast. ippines, - the East ASEAN Growth Area just added 1.2MTEU to its annual han-
neighbouring Chinese ports. The new terminal, with a quay length
Analysts at brokerage OSK Hold- (EAGA) - while also gaining from their dling capacity by completing another
Six of the top 10 container ports - of 1,500m, will be able to accommodate
ings suggest that the M$ 7B (US$1.94B) broadly-based operations, which include terminal at a cost of (US$222M).
Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, 10,000 TEU ships and will raise
economic stimulus plan announced by transhipment. PTP remains Malaysia’s largest con-
Shenzhen, Busan, Rotterdam, Guang- Kaohsiung’s annual handling capacity by
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Despite a fall in figures for the fourth tainer port after handling 5.6M TEU in
zhou, Ningbo, Qingdao and Kaohsiung 2M TEU. The NT$42.89B (US$1.3B)
Razak in November, together with the quarter, throughput targets for 2008 were 2008, benefiting from new services in-
- are now in China. budget has been subdivided into a number
recent strong performance of the ports, largely reached by the country’s seven troduced last year by anchor customers
Despite the global financial crisis, of private and public sector invested
will enable them to maintain positive main ports, which include Northport and Maersk Line and Evergreen to Australia,
which has hit the container shipping in- projects. The government investment is
growth this year. Westports in Port Kelang; Penang, Port New Zealand and the Philippines.
dustry, the top nine ports achieved sin- budgeted at NT$24.77B.
gle-digit growth in volumes last year, but
Kaohsiung’s throughput fell 5.7% to
9.67M TEU.
Kaohsiung was the No 3 container
port during the 1980s and early 1990s,
but its ranking has been slipping rapidly
in recent years as neighbouring ports, es-
pecially in China, took business away.
Many foreign shipping lines have dropped
Taiwan from their global routes as their
ships are sailing directly to China, deal-
ing a heavy blow to Taiwan’s dream of
developing Kaohsiung into a regional
transhipment hub.
Taiwan lifted the 60-year ban on di-
rect shipping links with China last De-
cember, which is expected to boost con-
tainer volumes, but KHB deputy direc-
tor Huang Kuo-ying, said the benefits will
not be felt for two or three years as there
are still many restrictions on direct sea
links now.
Those restrictions include only allow-
ing Chinese and Taiwanese-flagged ships
to sail directly. Most Taiwanese ships are
registered in foreign countries and can-
not enter the trade. When the restrictions
are lifted, he said, direct shipping is ex-
pected to boost Kaohsiung’s throughput
by around 1M TEU/year.
Kaohsiung Harbour Bureau (KHB)
director Hsieh Ming-hui added that the
port is still expanding and will try to re-
gain its former position.
A sixth container terminal is being
built at Kaohsiung with a depth of 16m
TPCT starts
operations
Thirteen services will be operated from
Taiwan’s Taipei Port Container Terminal
(TPCT) where the first two berths be-
came operational this month.
The inaugural call was made by a 2,000
TEU Evergreen vessel and the terminal will
be officially opened on March 9.
Evergreen Marine, TPCT’s largest
shareholder with a 50% stake, will operate
11 services, while 40% shareholder Wan Hai
Lines will operate the other two. Yang Ming
Marine Transport, which holds the remain-
ing 10% stake in the terminal, is still work-
ing out its service details.
TPCT’s original throughput target for
this year was 800,000 TEU across its two
berths, which have a capacity of 1.2M
TEU, but TPCT president Chen Hau-gi
said it was difficult to predict the full-year
cargo flow because of the uncertainties
in the shipping market and the world
economy.
“We will be able to break even if we
handle 250,000 TEU this year and that
should not be a problem,” Chen said.
The US$700M terminal, with draft of
16m, will eventually have seven berths
with a handling capacity of 4M TEU/
year. Located 38 miles from Keelung port
in northern Taiwan, TPCT is expected
to take away a considerable amount of
business from both Keelung and
Kaohsiung in the south.
According to Chen, TPCT will save
shippers more than US$327M in inland
transport costs annually because about 40%
of import/export boxes are to/from north-
ern and central regions. Not all of this can
be handled at Keelung because its draft of
12-14.5m cannot accommodate ships over
5,500 TEU and more than 1M TEU are
trucked between Kaohsiung and northern
and central Taiwan annually.
February 2009 17
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