THE year 2010 will be a big year for Penang Port.

The extension to its container wharf will be completed and the six new cranes built by ZPMC and delivered in December 2009 will commence service.

As the Penang Port managing director Datuk Ahmad Ibnihajar puts it: “There will be new operational options including on wharf storage serviced by high speed rail mounted gantry cranes, a new access bridge to the wharf and more storage yard space.”

Business overview

For the next three years, the Penang Port will continue to embark on its capacity building and productivity improvement to support its aim to be a premier port and logistics chain integrator in the IMT-GT economic region as well as for Bay of Bengal.

As container handling will continue to be its main revenue contributor, the Penang Port has invested more than RM1 billion for a few major projects since 2008.

North ButterworthContainer Terminal (NBCT) Phase 3

The expansion of NBCT Phase 3 will be undertaken in two phases.

Phase 3A – The first phase in the expansion of dedicated container terminal will include a new 600-metre wharf extension to the existing 900-metre wharf.

A new decking area for export container and support by a third access bridge is under construction.

This project is expected to be completed ahead of schedule before end of 2010.

Phase 3B – Construction of a new back stacking area to the existing 900-metre wharves.

To compliment this expansion project, the Penang Port has taken delivery of seven ZMPC Post-Panamax cranes.

Four cranes were delivered in November 2009, while the remainder arrived in early December.

The cranes, which cost RM25 million each, were delivered fully assembled. A Post-Panamax crane can reach 18 rows of containers on board a ship.

The new cranes with its twin-lift capabilities will speed up handling operations as it can pick up two containers at a time.

In line with these new projects, productivity at the port will be enhanced with a new target of crane productivity at more than 25 moves per hour per crane.

With this expansion plan in place and supported by a programme to deepen the access channel at north channel, to be carried out in 2011, it will enable Penang Port to attract more mainline call and direct services.

The port can be positioned as a regional transshipment hub and upgraded to be one of the major container ports in Bay of Bengal.

Cargo services

“The Penang Port continues to build its capacity to cater for existing and potential growth in bulk cargo,” said Ahmad.

“We are also in the midst of planning to re-develop the old Prai wharf into a fully dedicated modern bulk terminal to handle limestone, iron ore and cement clinkers.

“The amount of investment is expected to be about RM224 million,” he said.

The new terminal will be 14 metres deep and will be able to handle panamax vessels.

It will have a state-of-the-art conveyor belt, which will be linked directly to the customer’s premises.

The terminal will also be connected directly to KTMB’s national grid and will initially be expected to handle two million tonnes of bulk limestone and iron ore.

Ahmad said the Penang Port would continue to strengthen its cargo base by further increasing its land bank through the reclamation of an additional 404 hectares for various business activities and niche cargo such as free zone activities, halal hub and possibly to set up auto port and metal exchanges.

By: Lee Keng Fatt

It will reactivate berth expansion plan on economic recovery

PETALING JAYA: NCB Holdings Bhd projects a volume increase of 10% to 15% and will reactivate its expansion plan at Northport (M) Bhd this year in line with the current economic recovery trends.

Northport, a port operating subsidiary of NCB, posted a 5% decline in volume to 2.9 million twenty-foot equivalents units (TEUs) last year due to the global economic downturn.

Chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid said the positive volume outlook this year was for containerised and conventional cargo.

We only expand to commensurate the business that we have: NCB HOLDINGS BHD CHAIRMAN TUN AHMAD SARJI ABDUL HAMID

“And since there are perceptible trends in economic recovery, the group has decided to reactivate the expansion of berth 8A this year,” he told reporters after the company AGM yesterday.

The expansion of berth 8A or container terminal 3 is part of Northport’s RM585mil five-year expansion plan announced in 2008. The project was postponed due to the global economic meltdown.

Ahmad Sarji said works on berth 8A would commence in two months for completion in about 18 months.

“The capital expenditure (capex) on the project has been revised where the cost will be determined by tendered price.

“Northport will continue to be prudent. We only expand to commensurate the business that we have and to retain our customers,” he said, adding that Northport’s 30-year lease agreement would expire in 2013 and it was doing the necessary to renew the lease.

Northport managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader said the revised capex on berth 8A was line with the drop in raw materials prices and construction cost.

He also forecast closing the port’s first quarter this year with a 24% year-on-year volume increase.

“But, it must be noted that the previous corresponding period was the worst quarter that the port recorded last year in tandem with the global economic downturn,” he said.

On NCB’s other business in container haulage and logistics via Kontena Nasional Bhd (KN), Ahmad Sarji said the company now was on the fast track to fully utilise its sizeable assets in an effort to move into third-party logistics (3PL) business.

“The move into 3PL is considered a natural progression for a haulage company like KN. Besides our prime movers, we also have over three million sq ft of open yard and 500,000 sq ft covered warehouse.

“About 50% to 60% of our 3PL customers last year were our current haulage customers,” he said.

NCB recorded a 12.1% drop in total revenue to RM831.4mil in its last financial year ended Dec 31.

However, its pre-tax profit was 2.3% higher at RM167.9mil.

NCB has also declared final and special dividend of 21 sen per share.

Northport recorded a pre-tax profit of RM148mil on revenue of RM611.9mil last year.

Meanwhile, KN posted a pre-tax profit of RM9.7mil and revenue of RM219.5mil for the year under review.

Terminal operator Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) plans to boost productivity this year, newly appointed chairman Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said yesterday.

Although shipping companies and ports were hit hard by the global economic downturn, Penang Port’s volume rose 3 per cent in 2009.

In a statement issued yesterday, Dr Hilmi said in 2009, Penang Port handled a total of 958,476 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) compared with 929,639 TEUs in 2008.

“Our main priorities now are to continually improve our productivity, provide a range of diverse supporting port services and monitor our expansion plans in great detail”, he said.

PPSB has embarked on several key projects.

“The first phase in the expansion of dedicated container terminal will include a new 600m wharf extension to the existing 900 metre wharf, with new decking area for export container. A third access bridge is under construction. Simultaneously, for the second part of this project, a new back decking area will be built parallel to the existing 900m wharf.”

Construction for this project is 65 per cent done and four months ahead of schedule.

To complement the expansion, Penang Port has taken delivery of seven Post-Panamax cranes, each costing RM25 million.

While four of the cranes were delivered in November 2009, Dr Hilmi said the remainder arrived last month.

“A Post-Panamax crane,” Dr Hilmi noted, “can reach 16 rows of containers on board the ship. The new cranes with its twin-lift capabilities will speed up handling operations as it can pick up two containers at a time.

“With these new projects, productivity at the port will be enhanced with a new target of crane productivity at more than 25 TEUs moves per hour.”

By: Btimes.com.my

The North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) registered some 13% increase in the volume of cargo it handled in October.

NBCT handled 94,570 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in October, compared with 83,103 TEUs in September.

Penang Port Sdn Bhd general manager Obaid Mansor told StarBiz that the higher cargo volume was driven by goods from southern Thailand, rise in local businesses’ imports and exports, and an increase in the volume of empty containers from India and the Middle-East.

“We are confident of achieving our target of 930,000 TEUs by the year-end, matching the volume of cargo handled in 2008,” he said.

On the expansion of NBCT, he said the work to extend the 900m berth to 1,500m would be completed a year earlier.

“The original schedule for completion was October 2011. We have finished adding 400m to the berth,” he said.

He also said NBCT had already received four of the seven post-Panamax gantry cranes that it had ordered. “The other three cranes will arrive in the first week of December. Each crane costs RM25mil,” he said.

By: The Star Online

PENANG: Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB), the port operator, has invested RM1.1 billion over the last five years to upgrade infrastructures at the port and Container Terminal as part of initiatives to pump-prime the state economy, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said on Wednesday.

He said the huge investment had indirectly bolstered operations of the port and the terminal, key revenue contributors to the state economy.

Continuous upgrading of infrastructures at the Penang Port and Container Terminal is to provide shipping companies and other port users user-friendly facilities, a crucial element to woo more shipping lines and container vessels to the port and the terminal, he told reporters after a briefing by the port management on Wednesday.

To realise Penang Port’s mission to provide world-class shipping services, Guan Eng said the port’s latest and efficient logistics would be the yardstick to increase the number of merchant ships and containers anchoring at the port.

The Chief Minister also called on the Federal Government to re-start the RM353 million project to deepen the North Channel at Penang Port to facilitate smooth sailing-in of container vessels.

“If the deepening work is not done in compliance with environmental requirements, it will harm plans to turn Penang into a green state,” he said.

He also hoped projects promised for Penang under the current Ninth Malaysia Plan but have not been implemented due to various reasons would be carried forward to the 10th Malaysia Plan. – Bernama

Port operator will expand terminal if global economy keeps improving

PETALING JAYA: Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd will commence its RM600mil terminal expansion next year if the global economy keeps improving and starts contributing to the growth of its container volume.

Executive director Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said the project to build container terminal six was to have started last year but was postponed as the port had not reached its internal trigger point that should prompt the expansion for extra capacity.

“Our capacity now is about seven million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and we expect to handle only 4.3 million to 4.4 million TEUs this year.

“All the tender specifications for the project are ready as they are quite similar to our previous terminal expansion projects,” he told StarBiz.

Ruben said Westports had recently revised upward its targeted volume for this year from four million TEUs due to the month-on-month steady growth from the first quarter.

“The earlier target for 2009 was lower due to the sharp slump trend started in the last quarter last year.

“But the trend has been improving in the second quarter with average monthly volume of 360,000 TEUs, and even better in the current quarter with 400,000 TEUs,” he said.

Year-on-year, he added, the current third quarter still fared behind as Westports did very well in its third quarter last year with a record-breaking 475,000 TEUs in August.

Westports handled about 4.97 million TEUs in 2008.

On the global economic crisis, Ruben said Westports managed to identify and practised sustainable cost-cutting measures during the not “too busy” period to be more resilient in the future.

“We have not been able to really study our cost-saving measures previously as we were too busy with the rapid growth. But now, once we have identified the areas where we can cut costs, we will sustain the practice.

“We also managed to focus on intensive staff training in the lull period as Westports did not retrench any workers although its volume was down earlier in the year,” he said, noting that the port employed about 3,250 workers.

He said the training and cost-cutting measures made the port even more prepared to seize opportunities when the economy picked up.

On its mission to make Port Klang a bigger hub in the region, Ruben said Westports, which recently celebrated its 15th anniversary, would continue to focus on enhancing its productivity and services.

“We will also be looking at improving bunkering and feedering activities at the port,” he said.

Feedering is a process where smaller ports feed containers to hub ports as the latter have higher connectivity due to more calls made by shipping lines, while bunkering is fuel supply services to vessels.

Westports’ feedering activities come from ports in South-East Asia and India.

He said it was important for Port Klang to strive to be a bigger hub as it would not only benefit the port but also local importers and exporters.

“There is a huge difference between the freight rates of a non-hub port and a hub port. The freight rates at the hub port is cheaper due to the competitiveness of the many shipping lines, volume and the availability of empty containers,” he said.

Ruben said Westports had come a long way from its inception in 1994 and would continue focusing on sustainable development that included the Pulau Indah community and the environment.

“Apart from making the island more industrious with job opportunities and supporting services to the port, we now want to make it more friendly with communal facilities.

“For the environment, Westports – which is already known for its ‘garden port’ concept – will try to plant more trees,” he said.

By : Sharidan M. Ali

Ten new palm oil storage tanks to be constructed

KUCHING: Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd (BPHB) is embarking on a RM600mil expansion programme to boost Bintulu Port’s cargo handling capacity.

Chief executive officer Mior Ahmad Baiti Mior Lub Ahmad said the expansion of the container terminal, which started seven months ago, would raise annual handling capacity by 250,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) to 650,000 TEUs when completed next year.

Also under implementation is the expansion of the multi-purpose terminal for dry bulk cargo.

Mior Ahmad said the construction of the proposed RM14.9mil container freight station was awarded last week.

To be awarded soon was a contract to build 10 new storage tanks for palm oil, he said. The proposed RM25mil project will boost storage capacity by 26,000 tonnes from 76,000 tonnes.

Also in the pipeline are the proposed development of 19.1ha for port operation buildings and yard and an additional berth for the edible oil terminal.

Other planned projects included the conversion of the existing 200m general cargo wharf into a containerised cargo wharf and the purchase of more cargo handling equipment, Mior Ahmad said after the company AGM yesterday.

“All these projects are expected to be completed by 2011,” he said.

Chairman Tun Mohd Eusoff Chin said in a statement that the company would expand the liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities if the need arose.

“Currently, the LNG segment contributes 78% to the group’s total operating revenue,” he said, adding that in the next five years, LNG cargo would account for 60% of operating revenue.

Mior Ahmad said LNG handling contributed about RM330mil to revenue last year while containerised cargo and palm oil accounted for some RM33mil and RM22mil respectively.

BPHB recorded group operating revenue of RM448.8mil for the year ended Dec 31, up by RM31.6mil from 2007. Group pre-tax profit jumped to RM205.9mil against RM189.2mil in 2007.

Statistics have shown that container volume grew by over 15% to 290,167 TEUs last year from 251,800 TEUs in 2007.

Mior Ahmad said the economic slowdown had adversely affected Bintulu Port’s container cargo traffic, which dropped by about 30% for the first three months of this year against the same period last year.

However, he said there were positive signs that the situation had steadily improved.

“For dry bulk fertiliser there was zero import in the first quarter this year. But there are two shipments coming in this month,’’ he added.

LNG export volume, however, had sustained, he said.

He said 15 shipping lines (container cargo) were now calling at Bintulu Port.

By JACK WONG

PETALING JAYA: A number of port operators in the country have reported higher throughput volume for March but are cautious about volume going forward as the signs of recovery are still weak.

According to them, imports and exports as measured by twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) were up for March while transhipments – the shipment of goods to an intermediate destination before moving to another destination – were also up.

Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd executive chairman Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam had noted earlier in a commentary that in March, Westports’ total volume, including imports, exports and transhipments, was up 10% compared with the previous three months.

He said the immediate question that came to mind was whether these were signs of recovery or if this was due to inventory corrections after managers cancelled their orders between October and December last year.

“As such, between April and June, we’ll begin to notice that the world will not only reinstate its inventory levels but also increase its orders simply because life must go on,” Gnanalingam said.

Captain Ismail Hashim, chief executive officer of Port of Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd, which operates the number one transhipment port in the country, said volume grew 23% to 469,000 TEUs for March compared with February.

He said it was tricky to accurately predict the underlying reasons behind the recent increase in volume. “Whether the increase is sustainable over the longer term remains to be seen,” Ismail told StarBiz in an e-mail reply.

He said if the recent upturn was due to restocking of manufacturers’ orders as a result of them halting production abruptly earlier on when the crisis first started then the spike in volume could be “just a temporary pattern.”

Penang Port Sdn Bhd general manager Obaid Mansor said the Butterworth container terminal saw a bottoming in January when throughput was 30% lower than October 2008.

“The upturn in business was really registered in the export transhipment trade provided by our industrial hinterland,” he said, adding that a combination of improved demand for manufactured products, re-stocking, trade credit availability and demand from China and India could be the factors that contributed to an improvement in volume.

By FINTAN NG

Terminal operator Northport (Malaysia) Bhd has embarked on a cost-cutting exercise that will see all recruitment frozen and advertising spending slashed, in anticipation of worsening economic conditions.

“Many people are predicting that things are going to get worse next year, and so we are preparing ourselves to ride through this crisis. An obvious way is to cut costs,” said its managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader.

He was speaking to reporters after delivering a talk titled “Expanding the Operating Capacity of Northport through Implementing Strategic Initiatives” at the Selangor Freight Forwarders and Logistics Association in Port Klang last week.

Basheer said the port has put a freeze on staff recruitment and postponed or cut spending in areas such as advertising.

“However, we have no plans to retrench staff. In fact, it did not cross our mind,” he said, adding that the port had recruited about 30 people in the last three months.

Basheer believes that Northport’s restructuring and merger exercise between Klang Container Terminal Bhd and Kelang Port Management Bhd in 2000 will put the port in good stead to withstand the current downturn.

This includes its strategy over the past few years of focusing on revenue and profit growth instead of volume growth; the optimal utilisation of its assets such as land, labour and capital; and moving to higher-margin businesses comprising container, conventional cargo, logistics and automotive.

“Because of our prudent policy where we have kept our gearing to almost zero, we are well positioned to withstand the current crisis,” he said.

Northport is also keeping its RM500 million expansion plans on track, which include the development of a 350m container berth, bringing the container quayline at the port to a total of 3.4km.

Basheer also said the port remained on track to meet its forecast of three million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in container throughput this year.

However, he warned that the port has started seeing a drop in cargo volume in the fourth quarter of this year.

“Northport’s focus is import and export trade, particularly intra-Asian trade. As such, this recession is a concern to us because if Malaysian trade is affected, Northport will also be affected.

“We are starting to feel the effects of the global slowdown in the current quarter. But the drop (in cargo volume) is nothing to be seriously alarmed about yet,” said Basheer.

By : btimes.com.my

Within the kaleidoscope of fast changing global logistics scenario, Penang Port Sdn Bhd has formulated a strategic approach to serve our customers at the peak level, in line with our new corporate vision to make Penang Port to be the PREMIER PORT AND LOGISTICS CHAIN INTEGRATOR IN THE REGION.

Under New Business Plan, for container operations, the North Butterworth Container Terminal will be expanding by another 600 meters to accommodate seven vessels at any one time.  The north channel entrance will also be dredged to 13.5 meters from the current depth of 11.5 meters to accommodate bigger drafted vessels.

In addition, the port is also planning a 1500 meter storage deck located directly to the back of the present berth.  This will enhance the handling of export containers and improve port productivity performance by up to 30%.  This deck will be able to handle 873,900 teus and together with the current capacity of 961,300 teus, total yard capacity at the port will be 1,835,200.

The new expansion plan will be equipped with six new super post panamax gantry cranes and 15 rubber tyred gantry cranes.  These new superstructures and equipment will certainly enhance our strategy of being supply driven port instead of being driven by demand.  With these new developments in plan, productivity at the port will be increased, with a new target of at 35 teus moves per hour.  The cost of construction is expected to be RM380.7 million.

Penang Port Sdn Bhd also has formulated a strategic approach to provide information services in tandem the company’s long term business plan, PELKON III, PPSB’s newest container terminal management system was official launched on 1 September 2006.  The objective is to make the port intelligent and move to   the paperless era with a host of new features and functionalities that will enable port customers to do business in an easier and faster way.

In the pipe line after marina project completion, is the development an international cruise passenger terminal at Swettenham Pier, that is estimated to cost RM65 million.  The project is already kicks off in May 2006 and targeted to complete in 2007.  The present Swettenham Pier will be upgraded as world class cruise terminal to revitalize the Georgetown Waterfront.  The scope of work involves the redeveloped of Swettenham Pier into an ultra-modern international cruise Terminal with a T-shaped berth 450 meters long and 9 meters deep.  Upon completion, the berth will be able to cater for cruise vessel carrying more than 2,000 passengers.

We believe that with these developments in place, we will be able to fulfill our customer’s expectations, thereby strengthening our market position and company performance.  Thus enhancing our capability to make Penang Port Sdn Bhd a truly regional huh for the Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand growth triangle.