Hutchison Whampoa - Hong Kong's International Port Operator

[hkskyline]

UK approves Hutchison port plan at Felixstowe

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The British government said it had approved plans by Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd for a new container terminal at Britain's largest container port at Felixstowe, 120 km northeast of London.

Transport Minister Derek Twigg said a container terminal would be reconfigured as a deep-sea port and a 1 kilometre of quayside development would be added under the proposal by Hutchison Ports.

"The proposed reconfiguration of the port will contribute significantly to meeting the national need for additional container handling capacity in a sustainable manner," Twigg said in a statement on Wednesday.

The government last year rejected a proposal by Associated British Ports to build a deep-water port at Dibden in southeast England on environment grounds, but has indicated it will approve plans by P&O for a 1.5 billion pound container port and logistics centre near London.

P&O last week agreed a $7 billion takeover offer from Dubai Ports World after a bidding war broke out with rival suitor Singapore's PSA International.

[hkskyline]

Ready, Steady, Go for Felixstowe
13 February 2006
Traffic World

The British government approved plans by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings to build a 1.5 million-TEU-a-year container terminal at Felixstowe, the United Kingdom's largest container hub.

The decision, which will increase annual capacity at Felixstowe to 5.2 million TEUs, is welcomed by ocean carriers and shippers who warned that Britain faced an acute shortage of deep-sea container capacity if the government blocked major projects.

Felixstowe is the third project approved by the British government in the past nine months and will boost the United Kingdom's container-handling capacity by 7 million TEUs a year. Other ports are planning new box terminals, including Bristol and Teeside, which, if approved, will boost annual capacity by a further 3 million TEUs.

Transport Minister Derek Twigg said a container terminal at Felixstowe would be reconfigured as a deep-sea port and a little more than one-half of a mile of quayside would be added under the proposal by Hutchison.

Hutchison won approval in December to build a $535 million, 1.7 million-TEU capacity box terminal at Harwich, a ferry port directly opposite Felixstowe.

The government last year approved plans by P&O Ports for a $1.5 billion, 3.5 million-TEU container complex and distribution hub at the mothballed Shell oil refinery on the River Thames near London.

[hkskyline]

Hutchison Port Holdings agreed to buy 49 per cent of Lyttelton Port
14 February 2006
South China Morning Post

Hutchison Port Holdings agreed to buy 49 per cent of Lyttelton Port from its majority shareholder, Christchurch City Holdings, pending regulatory and shareholder approval.

Hutchison will pay NZ$2.10 ($11.06) each for 19.42 million shares, a 13.8 per cent premium on their average trading price over the past six months.

The deal is also pending Christchurch City's purchase of all the voting shares in the managing company it does not have under its 69 per cent equity stake.

Lyttelton is a small port on the outskirts of the South Island's main city of Christchurch. Most of its revenue comes from one container berth, through which it moved about 177,000 boxes in the financial year to June.

It supplements that revenue with coal and dry-bulk businesses but its infrastructure will need upgrading to compete with other ports in the region.

"We expect maintenance costs to remain at a high level for the next two to three years," the management company's chairman Barney Sundstrum said in August.

Last year, the firm paved the way for yesterday's offer by striking a three-year labour contract with union dockworkers, introducing a third shift and boosting box volumes 10 per cent year on year.

It nevertheless has been getting squeezed by shipping lines, which play regional ports against each other to negotiate the lowest possible port-side costs.

Revenues rose 7.6 per cent in the past financial year to NZ$66.5 million but earnings dipped to NZ$11.8 million.

The port boasts China Ocean Shipping (Group), Maersk unit P&O Nedlloyd and Japan's Nippon Yusen Kaisha as customers.

The offer is to be taken to the management company's shareholders on March 8 with a close of April 10.

"It's a fairly mum-and-dad-type shareholding; there are no large shareholders," a lawyer involved in the deal said. "The advice [Christchurch City] has been given is that there don't appear to be any roadblocks to the deal."

[hkskyline]

The Port, The Billionaire, and Beijing
1 March 2006
Dominion Post

CHRISTCHURCH Mayor Garry Moore has dismissed concerns from residents opposing Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's planned investment in the Port of Lyttelton.

However, council lobby group Christchurch 2021 has demanded a formal public consultation on the proposed change in ownership of the port, a key asset.

Christchurch residents have written to media about Li Ka-shing, the world's 19th-richest man, and his company's intended investment in Lyttelton Port Company via Hutchison Port Holdings. They say he has links with the Chinese government and army.

Mr Moore said the concerns seemed to be centred on misguided views about Mr Li, including those put forward in a testimony in 1999 by a single United States congressman.

Under the council-HPH joint venture plan, the council is offering $2.10 a share to secure the 31 per cent of the publicly listed company it does not already own. The council will then sell down to 50.1 per cent ownership with the balance held by HPH.

Christchurch 2021 chairman Carl Pascoe said he had received questions of concern about the proposed deal -- especially the reduced ownership by the council.

In response, CCHL chief executive Bob Lineham said HPH would have to run the port under New Zealand law and was "coming in as a shareholder . . . the city is maintaining control of the asset".

The issue of a public consultation had been rejected after legal advice, given control was maintained. "If we were to do public consultation we would not get an arrangement like this because you can't conduct a takeover of a company and a major sale to an overseas enterprise in the middle of a public consultation. The issue is far too complex for that."

HPH executive director Mark Jack said those questioning the motives of Mr Li and HPH should examine the company's track record and corporate structure.

"Christchurch city didn't discuss with us in detail about their detailed due diligence but they certainly did quite a study on their options and I believe looked at Hutchison's record internationally before coming to any decisions," he said.

Mr Jack said in terms of concerns about foreign ownership, the council still held a majority of the port.

He said: "If you look globally around the world it is perfectly evident that the shipping lines are forming larger and larger blocks, which are putting a lot of pressure on ports throughout the world and New Zealand is no exception to that."

Working for Mr Li within a publicly listed group was working "very much along the lines of any Western company", Mr Jack said.

"The only advantage as we see it is the company has absolutely no problems in terms of raising finance to do anything and is in a position to move very quickly."

Once concerned onlooker is Christchurch resident Gerald Hunt, who sent The Press a copy of the testimony by Dana Rohrabacher to a US Senate Armed Services Committee surrounding security of the Panama Canal.

Mr Rohrabacher noted that Hutchison had leases on ports at both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean ends of the canal.

"Li Ka-shing and his Hong Kong-based company and subsidiaries are closely associated with the Beijing (government) regime and have a history of acting as sources of funding or acting as intermediaries in deals for the People's Liberation Army," the congressman said in the testimony.

Mr Moore said such worries seemed to come from "conspiracy theorists".

[hkskyline]

Oman: Sohar primed as an export platfrom
1 March 2006
Economist Intelligence Unit - Business Middle East

The Sohar industrial port is the centrepiece of the Omani government’s effort to diversify the economy. It is now starting to deliver results

The project is located 250km north of Muscat, and 180km from Dubai, and aims at creating a port with an industrial base, set around a refinery and a heavy industrial complex, including metals and petrochemicals. The sponsors intend to carve an industrial export niche for Oman and thus allow it to diversify production away from hydrocarbons. With a number of major units ready to start operations later this year, the zone has already attracted some US$10bn in investment.

The project began in 2002 as a joint venture between the Omani government and the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The former provides land and infrastructure investment (including the construction of the oil refinery). The latter will provide management expertise in the running of the port. Together they form the Sohar Industrial Port Company (SIPC), which acts as harbour master and landlord to the industrial concessions and service providers in the port and industrial zone. SIPC has a 25-year concession agreement with the Omani government and works using a landlord system. SIPC is in charge of the overall industrial and commercial development of the port, while the day-to-day running is the concern of the various private-sector licensees.

The port will be divided into three terminals—a multi-purpose terminal for general cargo, run by Rotterdam-based Steinweg (operational since April 2004); a container port, run by Oman International Container Terminal (a joint venture between Hutchinson Port Holdings of Hong Kong and local investors; first construction completion due in mid-2006); and a liquids terminal, run by Oman Oil Tanking Company (owned by Oil Tanking of Germany, and Odjfell of Denmark). The port infrastructure part of the project should be completed by end-2006.

The industrial section is based around the US$1.3bn Sohar refinery, which is set to come on stream in the next two to three months. It will provide fuel for the energy-intensive metal industries, and polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene, and aromatics to the plastics and chemicals industries. Another US$550m is going towards the creation of the Sohar Power Company, which will be the largest independent water and power project in the country.

The two major metal-based industries are steel and aluminium production. There are two steel manufacturers—Sharq company, which will be processing scrap metal, and the UAE-backed Shadeed company which will be importing iron pellets to transform them into steel. The aluminium smelter is a US$2.2bn joint venture between Oman Oil Company (OOC; 40%), Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (40%), and Alcan of the US (20%). The downstream petrochemicals industry is divided into gas- and oil-based processing. The former includes ammonia/urea plants and methanol, while the latter focuses on polyethylene and polypropylene. Amongst these includes the largest industrial project to date—a US$3.4bn polyethylene joint venture between OOC and US-based Dow Chemical (called Oman Petrochemicals Industry).

The Achilles heel of the Sohar complex is reliance on gas, both domestic and, in future, imported from Qatar via the Dolphin pipeline. The IMF, for example, has raised queries about whether gas-based industries remain viable if they relied on imported gas. The presence of substantial multinational investors suggests that such concerns may be overstated—these firms appear to be confident that Oman will prove to be a good location from which to export intermediate goods to booming Asian markets.

[hkskyline]

Lyttelton Port offer too low, says the market
Michelle DaCruz
7 March 2006
New Zealand Herald

The sharemarket is sending a clear message to Christchurch City Holdings: Its takeover offer for Lyttelton Port is too low.

The port's shares closed at $2.20 yesterday. That is a 10c premium to Christchurch City's $2.10 a share bid for the 31 per cent of the port it does not already own. Since the takeover was announced on February 13, the shares have been steadily increasing in value from a price of $2.11 before the deal was made public.

If the Christchurch City bid succeeds, it will delist the port and sell a 49 per cent stake to Hong Kong-based port operator Hutchison Port Holdings for $2.10 a share or $107 million.

Not only investors, but some market analysts, also see the bid price as weak.

After Lyttelton Port's better-than- expected half-year result this month, Goldman Sachs JB Were analyst Marcus Curley called the bid ``a relatively low offer price''. The port's adjusted net profit was up 12 per cent on last year to $5.4 million, beating Curley's forecast by 8 per cent.

He said fair value was $2.26 to $2.57 a share.

``Based on our revised earnings estimates and takeover multiples for Port of Auckland activities, we now believe fair value for 50 per cent of Lyttelton Port is $2.26 to $2.57 per share,'' said Curley. ``In other words, the strong first-half 2006 result has added 6c per share to our strategic valuation of Lyttelton Port.''

Hamilton Hindin Greene partner Grant Williamson said his firm and the market see the offer as ``too light''.

``From our point of view and from the market's point of view, I think $2.10 is not sufficient in order for them to get to that 90 per cent threshold they need,'' said Williamson.

If Christchurch City's bid reaches 90 per cent acceptance, the offer will automatically succeed or trigger compulsory acquisition.

``I think Christchurch City Holdings will have to pay a premium to gain control of a strategic asset in the Canterbury region,'' said Williamson.

Investors are still awaiting a target company statement including an independent adviser's report on the offer's merit. The port has commissioned Crighton Anderson Corporate Finance to prepare the report, which is to be sent to shareholders by March 22.

The port's board of directors, headed by chairman Barney Sundstrum, said it would not tip its hand on the bid until the report was released.

The offer opens tomorrow and closes by April 10.

[hkskyline]

Obstacle looms to Hutchison NZ port deal

WELLINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - New Zealand's Port Otago Ltd. raised its stake in rival Lyttelton Port on Thursday, to a level where it could block a planned takeover involving Hong Kong's Hutchison Port Co. .

Port Otago increased its shareholding to 10.1 percent from 7.95 percent after a stand in the market at NZ$2.35 a share, trumping a takeover offer from Lyttelton Port's (LPC) majority shareholder of NZ$2.10.

Shares in LPC jumped 1.8 percent to NZ$2.25, their highest level since October 1997.

Last month LPC's 69 percent shareholder, a trading company of the Christchurch City Council, announced a NZ$210 million ($136 million) takeover offer to buy out the rest of the company.

It said it would delist LPC and sell a near-half stake to Hutchison, which would also operate the port.

However, Port Otago's shareholding is now large enough to block any move to force minority shareholders to sell and delist the company.

Lyttelton, based near the city of Christchurch, is the South Island's biggest port. Port Otago is the South Island's second biggest port, near Dunedin, and is controlled by local bodies.

Both ports have container and conventional cargo handling operations and at times have vied to attract shipping services.

Hutchison, a port-to-telecoms conglomerate of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, is the world's largest container port operator. ($1=NZ$1.54)

[hkskyline]

Ecuador : Hong Kong's Hutchinson Interested In Manta Port Ops
16 March 2006

QUITO (Dow Jones)--The Chinese port group Hutchison Port Holdings, or HPH, has expressed interest in administering, modernizing and operating Ecuador's Manta port, with an investment of around $523 million during a 30-year concession, Trajano Andrade, President of Manta Port Authority, or APM, responsible for the bidding process said Thursday.

"We had received this proposal from HPH, which now has a 20% of the required points for the qualification in a bid that we hope to release next month," Andrade told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.

Andrade also said that the proposal from HPH overcomes the estimation of APM to receive offers with an investment for around $290 million.

The National Modernization Board should approve the feasibility studies before the bidding.

"We hope to conclude the whole process until July and in August to sign the contract with the company that presents the best offer for the country", Andrade said.

If APM doesn't receive other offers, the concession will be awarded to HPH.

As part of the modernization, the international jetty would be enlarged from 700 meters to 1,200 meters.

According Andrade, once modernized, Manta could become in the main port of international load transfer of the South Pacific, because it has an open sea terminal, with four jetties that don't need to be dredged and can operate 365 days a year.

Another of the competitive advantages of the Manta port is its privileged location, 25 miles from the international traffic line, a key factor to develop the commercial exchange among the Latin American countries and from these to Asia, the U.S. and Europe.

[hkskyline]

Hong Kong firm defends plans to help screen U.S.-bound ships for terror threats
By WILLIAM FOREMAN
25 March 2006

HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. on Saturday defended a plan to help scan U.S.-bound cargo for terror threats at a port in the Bahamas, where American customs agents will not be present, saying it's not feasible or practical for U.S. officials to work in ports across the globe.

The best option for the United States is to rely on trusted agents using sophisticated inspection equipment to scan shipments at ports abroad, said John Meredith, group managing director for Hutchison Port Holdings, Hutchison's maritime subsidiary and the world's largest ports company.

The Hong Kong company is in the final stages of being awarded a no-bid, US$6 million (euro5 million) contract from the U.S. to help run a sophisticated radiation detector at the Freeport Container Port in the Bahamas, just 65 miles (105 kilometers) from the American shoreline.

Some U.S. lawmakers and security experts have expressed concerns about the deal because American customs agents won't be working with the equipment, designed to detect smuggled radioactive materials.

Among concerns is that a low-paid employee might be vulnerable to bribes and provide terrorists with information about how the equipment works and which material triggers alarms, experts said.

But Meredith told The Associated Press his firm has elaborate security checks, including filming inspectors checking the containers.

Meredith said the U.S. can't afford to post its own customs agents in ports all over the world. Even if the U.S. agents were abroad, they wouldn't have jurisdiction and would be restricted by local laws, he said.

However, U.S. customs inspectors already work at 43 foreign ports helping to inspect and scan cargo with the permission of foreign governments under a U.S. port-security program known as the "container security initiative." Some of the 43 ports are operated by Hutchison, and each of these ports has radiation scanners. Cargo that flows through such "CSI" ports is expedited through American security procedures once it reaches U.S. shores.

At these 43 ports, cargo scanning and inspection is done by local government customs agents, but U.S. customs inspectors work alongside them, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Kristi Clemens.

"We accompany them or do it in conjunction with them," she said. "It is the foreign port operator's equipment, but we must be allowed to also inspect the cargo that is being transshipped."

Customs security procedures at the sprawling Bahamas port are not rigorous enough to qualify it for participation in the U.S. customs security program, and so American agents are not allowed to work there.

Meredith said that since the September 2001 terror attacks in the United States, Hutchison has been at the forefront of the movement to protect shipping lanes from terrorist threats. He said the company -- which is among the shipping industry's most respected -- has played a key role in pushing for more advanced X-ray and radiation-detecting systems.

"We've been doing it because we think it's a good thing to do, but we don't like to get kicked in the teeth doing it," Meredith said.

Meredith said that if the U.S. government doesn't want to trust "friendlies," or inspectors from responsible companies and governments, to screen shipments, then it would have to build its own offshore inspection sites. That would be far too expensive, he said.

Another option would be not to inspect cargo until it arrives at U.S. ports, but that would risk an attack on the American coast, he said.

Hutchison's billionaire chairman, Li Ka-shing, has substantial business ties to China's government that have raised U.S. concerns over the years. But Meredith said Li's relations with Chinese leaders shouldn't be a problem.

"It's unfair to go and chop a guy up because he knows people," he said. "He's a 100-percent self-made businessman. He's respected by heads of state everywhere."

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, toured Hutchison's port in Hong Kong on Saturday and said he was impressed with the equipment and how it was operated.

"The technology is there and we've seen it first hand," Schumer said. "It is impressive and it does the job. They have a program where every container can be inspected for nuclear weapons, can be scanned."

Schumer, who raised early questions about the Bahamas contract, said he does not oppose awarding the contract to a foreign company. But he believes U.S. customs agents should be stationed at the Bahamas port.

"The Bahamas basically said no and we sort of shrugged our shoulders to have customs agents in the Bahamas just overseeing things," Schumer said. "We ought to push harder to do that."

------

Correspondents Sylvia Hui in Hong Kong and Ted Bridis in Washington contributed to this report.

[ignoramus]

Will Hutchison retain its World's top port operator title in the coming years as DPW acquires more ports and possibly a mainland chinese competitor?

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by ignoramus

Will Hutchison retain its World's top port operator title in the coming years as DPW acquires more ports and possibly a mainland chinese competitor?

DPW is still third in the world even after these acquisitions. The problem is after P&O, there are few large terminals available for purchase en masse, so operators will need to either buy smaller ones piecemeal or develop their existing facilities to handle more traffic. DPW paid quite a premium for their Hong Kong acquisitions last year. Whether such price ratios are sustainable in the long run are questionable. They have a chance of moving into 2nd place though.

[ignoramus]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

DPW is still third in the world even after these acquisitions. The problem is after P&O, there are few large terminals available for purchase en masse, so operators will need to either buy smaller ones piecemeal or develop their existing facilities to handle more traffic. DPW paid quite a premium for their Hong Kong acquisitions last year. Whether such price ratios are sustainable in the long run are questionable. They have a chance of moving into 2nd place though.

Does China have a national port operator or something? Hutchison controls most of China's ports right?

Got any stats on the top 5 port operators? And how much separates each of them. THANKS!

[onslow]

Yesterday the first container was discharged from the first ship served at Hutchison's new container terminal in Europe - GCT in Gdynia (Gdynia Container Terminal).

The ship was ENFORCER chartered by CMA CGM. Discharging started yesterday at 15:30. This evening the ship was still moored at the terminal and loading operations were seen. It is quite a long time as for serving thus not too big ship. but I understand the new container terminal is learning...

[hkskyline]

Ports help Hutchison
Bloomberg News
24 March 2006

Hutchison Whampoa, which owns the world's largest port operator, said Thursday that 2005 profit from managing container terminals rose 14 percent as cargo shipments increased. Hutchison Port Holdings had 10.2 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $1.3 billion, in profit before interest and taxes last year, compared with a restated 8.96 billion dollars in 2004. Sales rose 11 percent to 29.9 billion dollars. Hutchison, which operates 247 berths in 42 ports, said it handled 51.8 million standard 20 foot, or 6 meter, containers last year, an increase of 8 percent from 2004. The company is investing more in cargo terminals to meet rising demand. It formed a venture last year to manage the second phase of the $16 billion Yangshan deep-water port in Shanghai. Hutchison Port and four other companies, including A.P. Moeller-Maersk, will invest 4 billion yuan, or $498 million, to build four berths in Yangshan, which will double the eastern Chinese port's cargo capacity by 2010.

The company is expanding its container-handling capacity at Yantian in Shenzhen and it is building its first dry-bulk cargo terminal in the eastern Chinese port of Dalian. Hutchison Port's shares are not publicly traded. Hutchison Whampoa's shares fell 0.2 percent to 72.85 dollars in Hong Kong before the earnings were announced.

Hutchison Port and PSA International of Singapore are among the managers of container ports that benefited from Asia's growing economies and a 28 percent surge in 2005 exports in China. An estimated 80 percent of global trade is carried by sea.

"China is providing a significant growth engine" for Hutchison Port's business, said Peter Hilton, an analyst for Credit Suisse in Hong Kong, who rates Hutchison Whampoa "outperform." He said ports would continue to be a focus for the company.

The Chinese port of Yantian reported a 21 percent increase in 2005 cargo traffic. Growth at the company's cargo operations in Rotterdam was 12 percent. Growth was 49 percent in Xiamen in eastern China and 14 percent in Port Klang in Malaysia. Its Panama container port terminal had a 54 percent increase in traffic last year, Hutchison Port said.

Hutchison Whampoa's profit in 2005 rose to 14.3 billion dollars from a restated 13 billion.

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by ignoramus

Does China have a national port operator or something? Hutchison controls most of China's ports right?

Got any stats on the top 5 port operators? And how much separates each of them. THANKS!

Source : Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/business/2006/...ubaiports.html

DP World's $6.8 billion bid for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company would complete the global geographic chain for Dubai Ports, filling in the missing link to North America. (Note : opposition in the US has forced DPW to sell off some of its American operations)

The combined group would have a capacity of 50 million TEU across 51 terminals in 30 countries, including the six at issue in the U.S. In addition, there is the London Gateway project in the P&O pipeline, slated to become the largest container terminal in the U.K., which when completed would raise the P&O's current 15 million TEU capacity to 31 million TEU.

The P&O deal would make Dubai Ports the world's third-largest ports operator, behind Li Ka-shing's Hutchinson Whampoa's ports business and the Singapore government's PSA (which lost out in the bidding for P&O), and leapfrog it over China's state-run COSCO and over APM Terminals, part of the AP Moller-Maersk transportation group, which is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

[hkskyline]

Karachi keeps the upgrade process moving
Previous lack of investment has been reversed in a continuing effort to reduce congestion and speed up turnround times
23 March 2006
Lloyd's List

OVER the past few years, port infrastructure in Karachi, which has in the past suffered from a lack of investment, has been significantly upgraded and this process is continuing.

Managed by the Karachi Port Trust, Karachi port is of vital national importance as it handles about 75% of the country’s cargo, so alleviating port congestion and speeding up vessel turnround times is a strategic priority.

One of the key strategies of the KPT has been to undertake dredging to improve access for larger vessels, and now a further deepening of port is planned. The channel is reportedly being dredged initially to 13.5 m depth, to allow access to 12 m draught vessels at all tides, while there are longer term plans to dredge to 16.5 m up to the Keamari Groyne area, where KPT would like to build a transhipment-orientated container terminal at some point in the future.

According to KPT, this project will reduce turnround times for mother vessels and will be launched on BOT basis “in due course of time”.

Until relatively recently, container vessels calling at Karachi were worked by mobile cranes alongside general cargo piers. This situation has now changed with the development of two dedicated container terminals.

The biggest and longest established of these is Karachi International Container Terminal, which is part of the Hutchison Port Holdings group and which is now handling more than 400,000 teu a year following a recent increase in capacity.

KICT operates 600 m of berth and has four quayside container cranes as well as 12 rubber-tyred gantries. The company has expressed an interest in expanding into two adjacent berths and investing a further $55m. KPT is reported to be considering this offer.

A new, state-of-the-art customs clearance system has recently been implemented at KICT. According to a spokesman for APL, a leading customer of the terminal: “This enables hassle-free customs clearance and so reduced lead time and the cost of handling shipments.”

KICT, which is located in the West Wharf area, now faces competition from Pakistan International Containers Terminal, which is owned by local interests and operates berths in East Wharf.

This facility is also in the process of expansion following its success in building up container throughput.

Last year, a private sector loan agreement for $6m was signed by PICT with the Opec Fund for International Development for the second phase of development of the terminal. The first phase of the terminal included the installation of two quayside gantry cranes, together with landside equipment. The next stage involves the purchase of a third gantry crane and a variety of container handling equipment, as well as new customs and administrative buildings.

There are a number of investment projects outside the container sector which KPT is now seeking to take forward. One of these involves the setting up of a bulk cargo-handling terminal. At present, Karachi is handling about 4m tonnes of fertilisers and dry bulk cargo at various berths. The intention is to create a single, dedicated bulk cargo-handling terminal equipped with specialised dry bulk equipment in the East Wharf area. This would utilise 630 m of quay wall and 215,000 sq m of landside space.

KPT has selected a bidder for this process, a company called Star Terminals, but legal proceedings have delayed the start of the project.

KPT has also outlined plans for a ‘cargo village’ on about 100 acres of land close to the port. This would house container storage, warehousing, logistics and cargo processing activities.

One project that has been completed in the past year is the reconstruction of Oil Pier II in the port by China Harbour Engineering. This has allowed the 1966-built terminal to handle tankers up to 90,000 dwt and has boosted KPT’s liquid product handling capability from 19m tonnes a year to 24m tonnes.

[hkskyline]

HK's Hutchison bid for NZ port appears over

WELLINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - Unlisted Port Otago rejected on Thursday an increased offer for its stake in rival Lyttelton Port Company , dashing any hope Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa conglomerate had of rekindling a plan to buy into the sector. Lyttelton's majority owner, Christchurch City Council, raised on Wednesday its bid to buy out minority shareholders by 10 NZ cents to $2.20 a share, valuing the South Island's biggest port at around NZ$224 million ($136 million).

But Port Otago, which has built up a big enough stake to block the offer and a proposal by the council to subsequently sell half of Lyttelton to Hutchison, said it would not sell.

"Port Otago acquired its shareholding in (Lyttelton) as a long term investment," Port Otago chairman John Gilks said in a statement to the New Zealand stock exchange. "We want the opportunity of further involvement.

Hutchison Port Co., a unit of billionaire Li ka-Shing's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. , pulled out of the deal on Wednesday but Christchurch City said it could be revived if it did grab the 31 percent of Lyttelton it does not own.

Port of Otago, around 450 km (280 miles) to the south, raised its stake in Lyttelton port to 10.1 percent this month, blocking the Christchurch council from reaching a 90 percent holding that would have allowed it to compulsorily acquire the rest.

Gilks said Port Otago, the second-biggest South Island port and a competitor to Lyttelton in both container and general freight, wanted a relationship with Lyttelton that would see it play a role in any consolidation ports in the South Island.

Lyttelton also handles much of New Zealand's coal exports. ($1=NZ$1.65)

[hkskyline]

Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd. gets approval for new container terminal in Britain
31 March 2006

HONG KONG (AP) - The port unit of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. has received approval to develop a new container terminal in Britain.

The British government gave Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd. its final approval Wednesday to develop the new terminal at Bathside Bay in Harwich.

The terminal, the Harwich International Container Terminal, will have 1,400 meters (4,620 feet) of deep-water quayside and a total capacity of 1.7 million 20-foot-equivalent units a year.

Construction work on the first phase of the terminal won't take place until 2009 at the earliest as the company needs to upgrade road infrastructure leading to the terminal, Chris Lewis, chief executive of Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd., said in a statement on the company's Web site.

Hutchison Whampoa operates 42 ports in 20 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

[hkskyline]

Hutchison boss joins US ports security debate
Meredith believes security may be compromised over Washington’s hawkish attitude to foreign terminal operators
19 April 2006
Lloyd's List

HUTCHISON Ports boss John Meredith has warned Washington that its hawkish attitude to foreign terminal operators could jeopardise waterfront security rather than make US ports safer.

The US needs the co-operation of overseas port operators in its drive to tighten security, said Mr Meredith.

Instead, US politicians had sent out a message that that they don’t trust foreign port companies when they objected to DP World’s takeover of P&O’s US assets.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Meredith warned that this could undermine security efforts at a time when the US needs the support of foreign port operators such as Hutchison and DP World in screening inbound cargo.

He noted that many overseas ports are way ahead of those in the US in terms of the technology being used to check containers for illegal contents such as nuclear materials.

“The US is relying on the goodwill of Dubai Ports and other port operators to do the overseas security checks for them,” said Mr Meredith, Hutchison’s group managing director.

However, the furore over DP World does not help gain that co-operation, he told the newspaper.

He went on to say that global port operators were having problems explaining to US politicians how the supply chain works and convincing them the technology already exists to screen containers before they are loaded on to a ship. A pilot system is being trialled in Hong Kong whereby trucks drive through a scanner without stopping.

When US politicians discovered that Hutchison’s Freeport Container Port in the Bahamas was being provided with a straddle carrier fitted with radiation detection equipment by the US government, there was yet another outcry in Washington about the dangers of handing over responsibility for security to foreigners.

That reaction “was completely disproportionate”, Mr Meredith said. “Why not have another security check further down the chain?”

[hkskyline]

HWL sells stake in HPH and HPI
Corporate Press Release

(Hong Kong, 21 April 2006) Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) announced today that it has signed a sale and purchase agreement to sell 20 per cent effective equity and loan interest in each of Hutchison Port Holdings Limited (HPH) and Hutchison Ports Investments S.à r.l (HPI) respectively to Singapore's PSA International Pte Ltd (PSAI), for a total cash consideration of USD4,388 million (approximately HKD34,000 million).

The Company will realise a profit on disposal of approximately HKD24,380 million upon completion of the transaction, which both parties are endeavouring to close as soon as possible and no later than end of May 2006. The net proceeds from the transaction will be used for HWL's general working purposes.

Commenting on the transaction, HWL Group Managing Director Mr Canning Fok said, "The transaction represents an excellent opportunity to crystallise value for the Company and its shareholders. The terms of this transaction reflect the quality and value of our privately held ports business, setting an attractive benchmark for the Group's remaining interests in the business which we will continue to control and manage. We are pleased that PSAI has decided to take this 20 per cent holding, given PSAI's long-term commitment to the ports industry."

Hutchison is the world's largest private port operator, operating 42 ports in 20 countries.