|
Port
of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), the country’s premier
transhipment terminal, is working towards
increasing hinterland cargo volume to achieve a
more sustainable business model, says chief
executive officer Captain Ismail Hashim.
On average, PTP now handled 95% transhipment and
5% hinterland cargo, he said.
“We feel that we have to strike a better balance
to achieve a more sustainable business model,”
he told StarBiz via e-mail.
Development in Iskandar Malaysia, which included
logistics, would in turn support hinterland
cargo growth, he said.
“In this respect, PTP, along with its sister
companies Johor Port and Senai Airport, will
play complementing roles to further strengthen
the logistics sector in Johor.
“The presence of strong logistics infrastructure
in Iskandar Malaysia and Johor will attract
investors, manufacturers and industries that are
looking for strong and efficient logistics
backbone,” Ismail said.
This would result in an increase in Johor’s
hinterland volume, he added.
PTP’s 1,000-acre free-zone land has also been
successful in attracting brands, contributing to
the hinterland volume of PTP.
“Companies which are already rooted in Pelepas
Free Zone include Ciba Vision, Flextronics, BMW,
JST as well as logistics players such as Maersk
Logistics, Nagai Nitto, Schenker Logistics and
Century Logistics.
“We are continuously marketing the free-zone
land to attract more players,” Ismail said.
The port’s aims to quadruple its volume in the
next 20 years augurs well for hinterland cargo.
Ismail said in line with the expected increase
in volume and its long-term goal, PTP would have
to expand its port infrastructure.
“Some of the factors that shipping lines look
for when deciding on a port of call is the
accessibility to the port, operational
efficiency and capability to handle current and
future volumes (scalability).
“In the case of PTP, we belief we will be able
to achieve this due to the value propositions
that we have to offer,” he said.
PTP currently has 12 berths and a
terminal-handling capacity of 10 million TEUs
(twenty-foot equivalent units) per annum.
Ismail said it had the space and potential to
build up to 95 berths with a terminal-handling
capacity of more than 100 million TEUs.
PTP handled about 5.6 million TEUs last year.
On the current business environment, Ismail said
it had been very challenging for all port
operators globally due to the economic downturn.
“However, PTP has shown outstanding performance
in weathering this stormy condition, especially
in the second half of the year,” he said.
He noted that PTP registered a 3.4% increase in
volume as at September compared with the same
period last year.
“Despite the downturn, we expect to see some
growth this year via the new services introduced
through our existing and new customers such as
CMA CGM,” he said.
Source: The STAR
|
