According to Datuk Seri Kong Co Ha, Malaysia’s Transport Minister, between January and October, the ports’ trans-shipment, export and import container throughput increased 17%, 17.6% and 14% year-on-year respectively. Between January and October, Port Klang, a major port hub situated 40km from Kuala Lumpur, handled a total 7.4 million TEU – up 48.5% compared to the same period in 2009.
Port Klang
2009 was a tough year for Port Klang, the port’s financial performance was also impacted by the global economic crisis. Container traffic shrunk to 7.3 million TEU, down 8.3% from the previous year. Although “the fall in container volumes was less than forecasted after the authority projected a 10% decline in container throughput”, according to Kee Lian Yong, General Manager at Port Klang Authority. Westports throughput in 2009 was 4.5 million TEU compared to 4.9 million TEU the year before, a decrease of 10.4 %. Nonetheless, the terminal is still operating well below its projected annual container handling capacity of 7.2 million TEU and thus has much room for future growth. Container throughput also decreased at Northport from 3.0 million TEU in 2008 to 2.8 million in 2009. For the year 2010 Port Klang, the gateway to Kuala Lumpur, has projected container throughput to reach 8.2 million TEU. In August 2009, Northport welcomed the arrival of the APL vessel Dallas. The occasion marked the inauguration of a new service from APL – a subsidiary of Singapore based Neptune Orient Lines. Northport (Malaysia) hopes to foster greater business partnership by jointly promoting APL’s services to the world. This venture is expected to provide a further boost in growth and productivity to Northport. Meanwhile, French-based CMA CGM, the world’s third largest container shipping company, has opened a dedicated on dock depot (ODD) at Westports. The infrastructure of Port Klang also improved last year. After the dredging of the North Channel and waters along Northport’s wharves in 2008, work on deepening the South Channel was completed in December 2009. The channel’s new depth of 16.5m and width of 500m now allow the new generation of Suezmax vessels of 12,000 TEU and more to enter and leave the port anytime without having to rely on tides. Restrictions on two way traffic in the channel for large vessels have also been lifted. Port Klang has 23 container berths with total quay length of 5879m with a depth alongside of up to 16.5m and are able to accommodate vessels up to 160,000 tonnes displacement. Plans are in the pipeline to develop a new 300m container wharf at Northport as well as another 600m container wharf at Westports over the next 2 years.
Port of Penang
The Port of Penang, Malaysia is strategically located in the Straits of Malacca. It has been servicing worldwide shipping since the 18th century. Established primarily to facilitate exotic spice trading, the port has since evolved to become a modern, high volume centre in Asia, offering a variety of facilities and modern equipment to handle containers, liquid bulk cargo, dry bulk cargo and general cargo. A 2.5km railway track links the North Butterworth Container Terminal to the Butterworth railway station. Work on phase IIIA expansion of the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) is progressing well with 65% of the construction completed. When completed in 2011, the NBCT with a total quay length of 1.5km will have an annual capacity to handle 1.2 million TEU per annum. This year, six new post-Panamax STS cranes will be delivered for the NBCT project. Penang Port has also invested some RM175 million in the purchase of seven container cranes to boost terminal productivity. In 2009, Penang Port handled an increase of 3.1% of container throughput to 958,476 TEUs from 929,639 TEUs in 2008. In July 2010, Penang Port handled a record breaking of 99,568 TEU in one month also and it is anticipated that the total number of containers handled in Penang in 2010 will exceed the one million TEU mark. Earlier this year, the Free Commercial Zone (FCZ) System developed by Penang Port Commission (PPC) became operational. To date, 97% of the system has been completed after adjustments were made to three modules following recommendations of the Malaysian Statistics Department. The FCZ System enables port users to declare their documents in an expeditious, safe and convenient manner 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Port of Tanjung Pelepas
Malaysia’s Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) is situated at the mouth of the Pulai River, to the west of Johor Baharu, Malaysia. Last year, PTP handled a total of 6 million TEU – 7.5% more containers over the previous year. PTP’s strategy focus now to enhance feeder connectivity and increase its mix of local cargo is expected to attract more shipping lines to the port. According to Mohammad Sidik Shaik Osman, PTP chairman, the growth was achieved in a very difficult year for the industry, in which many shipping lines and ports faced double digit falls in volume due the global economic downturn. Part of the increase was due to the launch of new services and the addition of French shipping company CMA CGM as a new port customer. “There was also a 9% increase in local volume from the Johor industrial hinterland,” he said. For 2010 the goal is to build on last year’s strong performance and enhance its competitiveness against regional ports. Despite the fact that PTP is constantly hitting productivity figures of 35 moves per hour as compared to the industry average of 25, Sidik predicts an overall challenging year ahead despite signs of a global economic recovery. “2010 will clearly be a challenging year. We expect lower operational costs for shipping lines to be a key focus area”, Sidik said, adding that the port viewed this as an opportunity as shipping lines would look for more efficient and cost-effective alternatives. “PTP has much to offer both existing and potential new customers. Cost efficiency, world class service levels and unlimited capacity allows customers to extract greater efficiencies that will ultimately improve their bottom line,” he told World Port Development.