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.

Plans are underway to increase the capacity of the newly-completed Sepanggar Container Port Terminal (SPTC) in order to meet growing demand.

According to Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, ever since the container port was open for business, it has been recording an upward trend in performance.

Speaking after attending a briefing cum work visit to SPTC, Thursday, he said Sabah Port Sdn Bhd (SPSB) has been mulling over the expansion plan.

This is to further improve the port’s capacity to enable it to handle more containers coming into Sabah.

“The port has been recording a commendable increase in terms of operational performance and an expansion plan is necessary and something to look forward to,” he said.

This despite the port with a capacity of 500,000 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) handling only about 200,000 TEUs last year as said by its Chief Operating Officer Mohd Sahid Nawab Khan.

Pairin said the privatisation of ports in Sabah has resulted in their management becoming more efficient as reflected by the steady increase of operational performance.

He said that positive performance displayed by the container port showed that it was heading in the right direction.

Explaining the expansion plan, he said it would be carried out based on projected future needs. “The plan would include increasing the size of the container yard and docking areas.”

Costing RM400 million over 22ha in Sepanggar opposite the Naval Base, the port commenced operations on June 9, 2007.

Plan for expansion of the newly completed Sepanggar Container Port Terminal (SPTC) is being foreseen.

Infrastructure Development Minister, Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan yesterday said Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd (SPSB), the government-linked company managing the port, was already mulling on expansion plan to further improve the port’s capacity.

The port, sitting on a 22 hectare land started operation June 9, 2007, has a capacity of 500,000 TEUs but last year it handled only about 200,000 TEUs, as revealed by its Chief Operating Officer, Mohd Sahid Nawab Khan.

However, according to Pairin, since commencing operation it has recorded a commendable increase in terms of operational performance and thus an expansion plan was something to look forward to.

He said the move to privatize the ports in Sabah has resulted in a more efficient management where a steady increase in operational performance has been noticeable.

“Operation wise, the privatization is showing a desirable result as the performance of our port continues to improve. We are heading towards the right direction,” he told reporters here yesterday during a visit to SPTC yesterday.

He said the scale of the expansion would depend on future needs and it would involve increasing the size of the container yard and docking areas.

Pairin who was in his first work visit to the port since taking over the Ministry of Infrastructure Development in May, however regretted that high percentage of empty containers going out from the port has continued.

He said this was due to Sabah still not producing sufficient manufactured product for export.

In the mean time, SPSB Chairman Datuk Karim Bujang explained that Sabah currently exports mainly crude palm oil which does not require the usage of containers.

Sahid added that 70 per cent of the total containers handled that entered through the port last year returned empty and the figure has increased slightly this year.

Other ports around the globe, he noted, were showing similar trend due to global economic slowdown.

Most of the cargos it handles are from Peninsular Malaysia with a small percentage of transit cargos.

By :  Sabah Times

PASIR GUDANG: Johor Corp (JCorp) will be investing RM500mil under the second phase of the Tanjung Langsat Port expansion plan this year, said chief executive officer Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim.

Two new berths measuring 500m each dedicated to the handling of general cargo would be built at the port, he said.

“It is necessary to further expand and upgrade facilities at the port to accommodate the needs of existing investors and to attract potential ones,” Ali told reporters after presenting awards to athletes of the Johor Yachting Association on Saturday.

JCorp is the parent company of port operator Tanjung Langsat Sdn Bhd (TLSB) and TMP Technopark Sdn Bhd, which is developing the 1,400ha Tanjung Langsat industrial estate.

Since 2000, TLSB has invested RM500mil in the port, equipping it with machinery to handle liquid petroleum cargo and other hazardous chemicals and building storage facilities.

Ali said the port was originally built to handle liquid petroleum-related cargo, not general or dry cargo. “However, we have to make some changes to include berths for handling general cargo as there is demand for such facilities here,” he said, adding that the port would have between 12 and 14 berths under the port’s long-term expansion plan.

Ali said to date, there were 21 local and foreign companies operating in the industrial estate with a combined total investment of RM10bil including infrastructure.

He said although the outlook for the global economy was uncertain, there remained opportunities in niche segments such as the petrochemicals industry.

JCorp will be targeting more investors from the Middle East and will join a trade delegation to the United Arab Emirates later this month, according to Ali. He said that the Middle East investors he met on his trips to the Gulf States recently had expressed their commitment to invest more in Malaysia.

“They did not want to take any more risk by putting their monies in Europe and the United States unlike before and now most of them see Malaysia as a safe haven for their investments,” he said.

By ZAZALI MUSA

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.