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Singapore
port operator PSA Corp, which
considers disclosing details of port
statistics a treason, has resorted
to creative compilation of its
throughput to keep its morale high
in the wake of loss of its recent
loss of its number two customer –
Evergreen to Pelabuhan Tanjung
Pelepas in Johor.
Declaring
that the departure by Evergreen was
not expected to have a significant
impact on it, PSA is now releasing
aggregate throughput that includes
container volumes handled in its 13
overseas port projects in eight
countries: Belgium, Brunei, China,
India, Italy, Korea, Portugal and
Yemen.
PSA
said its March container throughput
rose 11.7 per cent year-on-year at
its local and overseas ports.
For
the first quarter of 2002, overall
container throughput was up 13.8 per
cent compared with the same period a
year ago, helped by an increase in
transshipment volumes across all
major markets, particularly China,
Europe and South Asia, PSA said in a
statement.
However
container volume handled at PSA
Corp’s Singapore container
terminals rose only 6.3 per cent to
1.42 million TEUs in March compared
with cargo handled at its overseas
container terminals rose 39.1 per
cent in March compared to the same
period last year.
On
account of its creative compilation
of throughput fugures, PSA Corp
remains confident of achieving its
17 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent
units) throughput projections this
year despite Evergreen’s departure
in September.
PSA
chairman Yeo Ning Hong said the
target of 17 million TEUs – a
figure that could keep it in
contention for the world second
largest container port – was
“completely achievable through
growth in global traffic”.
The
number-obsessed PSA Corp, which in
October 2000 lost its number one
customer – Maersk-Sealand -
suffered one of worst reverses with
a year-on-year volume slide of 8.9
per cent to 15.5 million TEUs last
year.
PSA
Corp, which is also confident of
raising global traffic following its
recent success in taking over of 80
per cent control in a Belgium port
operating company – Hesse Noord
Natie, that is engaged in terminal
handling in Antwerp port and
Zeebruggee - is also said to
considering offering its customers
with a “global loyalty
incentive” to forestall further
defections from Singapore.
The
market is rife with rumours of other
Asian lines – K Line and Hanjin,
notably – seeking to migrate to
PTP, PSA Corp’s nemesis.
PSA
Corp is rated as the second largest
global operator after Hutchinson of
Hong Kong that handled globally
about 28 million TEUs.
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