Hutchison Whampoa - Hong Kong's International Port Operator

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Hutchison Consortium Has Highest Thessaloniki Port Tender Bid
22 July 2008

ATHENS (Dow Jones)--A consortium including Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.'s (0013.HK) ports unit and Greek pharmaceutical group Alapis SA (ALAPIS.AT) offered the highest bid to manage and develop container terminal operations in Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest port, the country's merchant marine minister said Tuesday.

"The process of appointment of the provisional contractor will take place in the next few days, as previously planned," George Voulgarakis said in a statement.

According to the details released separately by the Thessaloniki Port Authority SA (OLTH.AT) and ministry of mercantile marine, the joint offer of Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd., Hutchison Ports Investments SARL, Alapis and LYD SA, totaled EUR3.11 billion - 70% is guaranteed, amounting to a net present value of EUR419.5 million - plus investments totaling EUR489 million for the concession of 30 years.

The other bidders for the same tender included Dubai Ports World DPW.AI, which teamed up with Greek construction group Aktor and Piraeus Bank; and China's Cosco Pacific Ltd. (1199.HK).

Last December, the center-right New Democracy government announced plans to privatize the container management operations at the Piraeus Port Authority SA (PPA.AT) and the Thessaloniki Port Authority.

The government, which controls slightly over 74% of both ports, wants private companies to manage and invest in the ports' container terminal operations for up to 35 years as part of its 2008 privatization program.

Company Web sites: www.olp.gr; www.thpa.gr; www.dpworld.com; www.hutchison-whampoa.com; www.coscopac.com.hk


Corrected July 22, 2008 12:48 ET (16:48 GMT) [ 22-07-08 1636GMT ]

The other bidders for the same tender included Dubai Ports World, which teamed up with Greek construction group Aktor and Piraeus Bank; and China's Cosco Pacific Ltd. (1199.HK).

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Hutchison Consortium Named Preferred Bidder For Greek Port
1 August 2008

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--A consortium led by Hutchison Port Holdings was named the preferred bidder in a tender for the development of new container facilities at Port of Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest container port, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.'s (HUWHY) ports unit said in a statement Friday.

Last December, the center-right New Democracy government announced plans to privatize container management operations at Piraeus Port Authority SA (PPA.AT) and Thessaloniki Port Authority.

The government, which controls slightly over 74% of both ports, has invited private companies to manage and invest in the ports' container terminal operations for up to 35 years as part of its 2008 privatization program.

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Small talk Hutchison in bid for Port Botany.
15 October 2008
Lloyd's List

PORT operator Hutchison has directly lobbied Australia’s New South Wales ports and infrastructure minister Joe Tripodi in a bid to become Port Botany’s third terminal operator, reports Lloyd’s List DCN.

The move supports repeated State Government soundings that it wants a third terminal operator instead of awarding the lease to the incumbents, Patrick and DP World.

Mr Tripodi said he met Federal Labor MP Laurie Brereton, acting on behalf of the Hong Kong-based company, which already operates berths 11 and 12 at port of Brisbane.

Port Botany’s expansion, which began earlier in the year, is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

Mr Tripodi confirmed that members of Hutchison had seen him and were expressing interest.

“It was a general meet-and-greet and expression that they were keen to see it go ahead,” Mr Tripodi revealed during a budget estimates hearing.

Mr Tripodi downplayed the meeting, saying it was common practice for representatives of a stevedoring company to visit a ports minister when they were in town.

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Hutchison gambles on Taranto’s potential
21 November 2008
Lloyd's List

Hutchison Whampoa’s negotiations with Evergreen over taking a stake in the Taranto Container Terminal appear to be moving forward.

The two companies are understood to have applied jointly for clearance from the European Commission.

Reports from Brussels suggested that the request was filed with the commission on Tuesday, the last day that would permit a ruling before Christmas. Informed sources in Taranto confirmed that Hutchison has been engaged in due diligence of the terminal for some time. Officials at the two companies were unavailable for comment.

It is understood, however, that Hutchison would take a 50% stake in the operating company, and take over management of the facility, which is located at the very heel of Italy and is viewed as a potentially valuable transhipment hub for central and eastern Europe via the Adriatic.

Nonetheless, Hutchison will have its work cut out if it is to make TCT a success in a climate that has often seemed overtly hostile to port expansionin the past, and particularly to the dredging required to make it possible.

Evergreen, which has operated the terminal since it opened for business in 2001, has had difficulties translating TCT’s favorable location into steady growth in throughput — this is despite significant investment and sound management of the facility.

In part, according to some industry sources, this stems from a market perception that it is first and foremost an Evergreen terminal, a view reinforced by what some describe as an apparent unwillingness to market it aggressively.

However, Evergreen’s difficulties at Taranto have not been all of the company’s own making. Most damagingly, the terminal has been hamstrung by an inability to dredge key berths and channels down to levels sufficient to allow calls from the new generation of mega-containerships.

Executive vice president Giancarlo Russo attributes MSC’s departure for Gioia Tauro last year precisely to the disruptive influence of those same shallow draughts, with some vessels arriving at busy times forced to partially offload at deeper draught berths before shifting position.

The loss of MSC was largely responsible for the slide in throughput to 760,000 teu last year from 890,000 teu in 2006 — this at a terminal which he says could handle up to 2m teu annually.

Difficulties securing dredging permits have blocked plans for significant expansion at TCT and elsewhere around the port, though TCT is now pushing a new application to dredge to 16.5 m at the berth, compared with a current maximum of 14.5 m.

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Hutchison to invest in new Shenzhen container berths

HONG KONG, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Hutchison Whampoa Ltd , the world's biggest container terminal operator, will team up with Shenzhen Yantian Port Group to invest in a container terminal in the city's Yantian East area, despite slowing global trade in the face of the financial crisis.

Hutchison Port Holdings, a unit of Hutchison Whampoa, said it had signed a deal with Yantian Port on Thursday and preparation work for the construction would start soon.

The East Port Phase I project will cover an area of 1.38 million square metres and will develop four container berths to handle ships of up to 9,500 twenty-foot-equivalents units (TEU).

Hutchison will have 53 percent of the project and Yantian Port will own the remaining 47 percent, Wang Yongzhen, head of the general office of Yantian Port told Reuters.

No financial terms were available but analysts estimated the investment at be around HK$4.4 billion ($568 million).

Hutchison, which handled a combined throughput of 66.3 million TEU worldwide last year, has partnered with the mainland firm in the development and operation of Yantian West Port in China's booming southern city of Shenzhen.

But slowing trade growth and increasing competition in the neighbouring terminals had seen Yantian's container throughput fall 3 percent year-on-year to 7.9 million TEUs in the first 10 months of 2008, analysts said.

Terminals in Shenzhen, the second-busiest port on the mainland, have been expanding their market share in southern China at the expense of Hong Kong's port as they are closer to factories in the Pearl River Delta, helping to lower transport costs.

New terminals in Shenzhen, including Da Chan Bay Terminal One developed Modern Terminals, and Guangzhou have intensified competition.

Slowing export growth due to weak demand from the United States and Europe as a result of an economic downturn deepened the woes of terminal operators, analysts said.

In order to optimise the use of resources and lower operational costs, Yantian International Container Terminal will manage East Port Pase I along with existing facilities at West Port. ($1=HK$7.751)

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EU OKs Hutchison Whampoa, Evergreen To Buy Port Operator
18 December 2008

BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)--The European Commission cleared Thursday conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK) and Evergreen Marine Corp. (2603.TW) to jointly acquire control of Italian port operator Taranto Container Terminal SpA.

Hutchison's unit Hutchison Ports Taranto BV and Evergreen will share control of the company, which operates the port of Taranto, in Southern Italy.

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Port operators ink swap deal
23 December 2008
Hong Kong Standard

Hutchison Port Holdings, the container-port operator controlled by Hutchison Whampoa (0013), has signed a share-swap agreement with Japan's NYK Group.

The deal means Hutchison takes majority control of Amsterdam-based Ceres Container Terminals Europe (CTE).

In return, Hutchison gives Tokyo- based shipper NYK a minority stake in Europe Container Terminals, its Rotterdam-based operations.

``The investment in CTE will help strengthen Hutchison Port Holdings' presence in northern Europe through the addition of extra container- handling capacity,'' Hutchison Port Holdings group managing director John Meredith said.

CTE's strategic location allows it to attract deep-sea and feeder traffic as well as inland traffic, Meredith said.

CTE controls three berths as well as a roll on/roll off terminal that performs stevedoring activities for automobile carriers.

The CTE berths include an on-dock rail facility with 700-meter-long tracks that reach to the edge of the quay deck, Hutchison said in a statement.

Shares of Hutchison Whampoa fell in line with the general market yesterday, sliding 4 percent to close at HK$39.10, down HK$1.65.

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Hutchison Ports Unit Signs Deal To Manage Stockholm Terminal
18 December 2008

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--The ports unit of conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK) said Thursday it signed an agreement with Ports of Stockholm Group that gives the Hong Kong-based company the right to operate the container terminal at the Stockholm Free Port for 25 years.

Hutchison Port Holdings didn't provide financial details for the agreement with the Swedish company that starts March 1, 2009, but it said the deal will also give it the operational rights for a new container terminal at the port of Stockholm-Nynashamn, which will be operational in 2012.

Hutchison, which is the world's largest port operator by throughput, said the new terminal will cover an area of 25 hectares and will be developed in three separate phases.

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Greek port deal scuppered as Hutchison withdraws interest: port authority
24 December 2008
Agence France Presse

Global transport operator Hutchison Whampoa has scuppered talks on the concession for container facilities at Greece's main northern port of Thessaloniki, the port authority said Wednesday.

A consortium headed by the Hong Kong-based operator withdrew its interest in the deal this week, port authority chairman Lazaros Kanavouras told the Greek semi-state Athens News Agency (ANA)

"The general manner of their participation in the negotiations had not given us reason to expect such a sudden break," Kanavouras told the agency.

He attributed the decision to the global financial crisis.

"(The consortium) has informed (us) that it it withdrawing its interest in the concession," the Thessaloniki port authority said in a statement.

"The two sides were in the process of drawing up a contract following an international tender in which the consortium had been declared a temporary concessionaire," it said.

Hutchison, which had outclassed rival operators Cosco and Dubai World Port with a 419-million-euro (586-million-euro) bid, has not commented.

The container terminals of Thessaloniki and the main port of Piraeus are a top privatisation priority for Greece, which seeks to exploit its strategic position at the European Union's gateway and maximise trade proceeds.

Last month, the Greek government, in the presence of Chinese President Hu Jintao, signed a 35-year concession of Piraeus' main container facilities to China's Cosco which it said will bring a guaranteed premium of 3.4 billion euros (4.8 billion dollars) and boost the port's capacity by 250 percent.

The plan for Thessaloniki had an investment target of 250 million euros and was to triple the port's capacity to 1.6 TEU's.

Both Piraeus and Salonika are currently turning a profit but the funds are insufficient for the "massive" investment needed to fully face up to their regional competitors, the government says.

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Ecuador President Threatens To Expel Hutchison Ports
5 January 2009

QUITO (Dow Jones)--Ecuador might expel Hutchison Ports Holding Ltd., the ports unit of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK), because it isn't meeting a timetable for investments at the Manta cargo port, President Rafael Correa said over the weekend.

"I had pulled out a yellow card. Forget the banana republic. It (the company) won't play with this government. If Hutchison doesn't meet its commitments, it will have to leave the country," Correa said during his weekly radio address.

In 2006, Hutchison assured a 30-year concession for the modernization and operation of Ecuador's Manta cargo port, on the Pacific coast. It was to build the modern infrastructure necessary to accommodate vessels carrying more than 4,500 containers.

The contract calls for $240 million in infrastructure investments, $161 million in equipment and $122 million for maintenance. Some 30% of the total $523 million in investment is meant to be disbursed during the first six years.

The concession contract also requires an additional $55 million in investment from the state to build a fishing, industrial and tourist port.

Correa said his government won't give a cent of this. "The concession is for the cargo port. We won't give a cent. We will build the fishing, industrial and tourist port," Correa said.

Hutchison officials were not available to comment.

Manta, which is a major city for Ecuador's tuna industry, is located in the westernmost part of Ecuador's Pacific coast. It is Ecuador's second-most important port after Guayaquil.

According the Hutchison Web site, the Port of Manta is the closest port to Asia on the west coast of South America, making it the ideal first port of call in the region for global shipping lines.

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Ecuador Gives Hutchison Unit 90 Days To Solve Port Problems
7 January 2009

QUITO (Dow Jones)--The port authority in the city of Manta, or APM, has given Terminales Internacionales del Ecuador 90 days to fulfill its contract terms, APM's manager Patricio Padilla told Dow Jones Newswires on Wednesday.

Terminales Internacionales del Ecuador, or TIDE, is a unit of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK)

Last weekend, President Rafael Correa said his government might expel the company because it wasn't meeting a timetable for investments at the Manta cargo port.

"The APM decided yesterday to give an ultimatum to the company: 90 days to see progress in the works," Padilla said in an interview.

Meanwhile, Alex Villacreses, undersecretary for ports in the Ministry of Public Works, said that if the Asian company doesn't fulfill its commitments, "it won't continue in the business. In the world there are many operators who want to invest in Manta."

According Padilla, "the company has already been notified verbally and in the coming hours it will receive the written notification."

The APM also decided to begin talks with TIDE to renegotiate its contract and to exclude it from the building of a fishing, and other use, port.

The port upgrade contract calls for $240 million in infrastructure investments, $161 million in equipment, and $122 million for maintenance. Some 30% of the total $523 million in investment is meant to be disbursed during the first six years.

The concession contract also requires the additional $55 million in investment from the state to build the fishing port.

Correa said that the government will build that part of the port itself.

"The contract's renegotiation has priority. If we can, we will begin the talks this week. There is a decision that the state, through APM, will build the fishing port and TIDE will develop the international cargo port, which is the objective of the contract," Padilla said.

Although Padilla didn't give more details, he said that the company didn't meet the work and investment schedule and that there were also delays in the renovation of guarantee papers, among other things.

Hutchison officials in Ecuador were not available to comment.

Hutchison received a 30-year concession for the modernization and operation of Ecuador's Manta cargo port. It was to build the infrastructure necessary to accommodate vessels carrying more than 4,500 containers.

Manta, which is a major city for Ecuador's tuna industry, is located in the westernmost part of Ecuador's Pacific coast. It is Ecuador's second-most important port after Guayaquil.

The Port of Manta is the most accessible terminal in Ecuador for cargo from Asia. It is also the nearest natural deepwater port on the Pacific Coast of South America for ships sailing from Asia.

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Hutchison says withdraws from Ecuador port project

HONG KONG, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Hutchison Whampoa's port unit said it will withdraw from a Manta cargo port project, reportedly worth $513 million, after the Ecuadorian government made changes in the concession agreement.

This is the first major project to be abandoned by Hutchison after the port-to-telecoms conglomerate said last October it would halt on "uncommitted spending" until June 2009 and all investments would require a new look amid the global financial crisis.

Hutchison Port Holdings Group said in a statement on Friday its member Terminales Internacionales de Ecuador S.A. will withdraw from the concession agreement to operate the Port of Manta in Ecuador because it found the changes unacceptable.

Ecuador President Rafael Correa said in January that he had "pulled out a yellow card" for Hutchison, the world's largest container terminal operator, due to delays in investment in the project, the South China Morning Post reported.

Correa said if Hutchison could not meet its commitments "it will have to leave the country," the paper said.

Analysts said it was not surprised that Hutchison would take the opportunity of weak economic conditions to reorganise its business.

"Hutchison's business is closely related to the world economy and now under the global financial crisis, there is no doubt that its business will be affected," said Marco Mak, an analyst at Tai Fook Securities.

Shares in Hutchison fell nearly 2 percent earlier on Friday as its unit Husky Energy reported its fourth quarter profit sank 79 percent. The stock closed 0.7 percent up, lagging a 3.6 percent rise on the blue chip Hang Seng Index .HSI.

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Greek Privatization Plans Hit By Econ Crisis-Minister
12 February 2009

PIRAEUS, Greece (Dow Jones)--Greece's privatization program is facing difficulties as a result of the economic crisis, a government minister conceded Thursday, following the failure of two privatization tenders in as many weeks.

Late Wednesday, the Thessaloniki Port Authority SA (OLTH.AT) - the state-owned company that manages Greece's second largest port - formally invalidated a bid by Hong Kong-based ports operator Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (HUWHY), after the company withdrew its winning bid to manage the container operations at the port.

And earlier this month the government canceled the long-awaited and closely-watched privatization tender for loss-making national carrier Olympic Airlines after failing to receive satisfactory bids.

"The lack of interest in Olympic and the lack of interest in the Thessaloniki port...shows that there is a problem arising out of the international crisis," said Merchant Marine Minister Anastasios Papaligouras. "And especially with the difficulty investors have in finding financing during this crisis."

Late in December, a consortium led by Hutchison Whampoa withdrew its winning EUR419.5 million bid because of difficulty in securing bank financing for the project.

The other bidders for the same tender included consortia led by Dubai Ports World (DPW.AI), and China's Cosco Pacific Ltd. (1199.HK).

Both had much lower bids for the 30 year concession, with Cosco offering EUR132.0 million for the port operations, while Dubai Ports offered EUR68.4 million.

The announcement by the Thessaloniki Port Authority means that the Hutchison bid has now been formally rejected, possibly opening the way for a new tender or else fresh talks with second and third placed bidders Cosco Pacific and Dubai Ports World.

Last year, the center-right New Democracy government announced plans to privatize the container handling operations at its two major ports - in Thessaloniki and the far larger port of Piraeus.

The program was seen as centerpiece of the government's privatization drive and were designed to bring fresh investment to Greece's two largest ports which enjoy a strategic location in the eastern Mediterranean.

Despite union opposition and a series of technical problems with the tender process, Greece eventually awarded the management concession for the Piraeus port operations to Cosco Pacific.

That deal is expected is be finalized by the end of March following approval from the Greek parliament, Papaligouras said.

Speaking to reporters, Papaligouras said that the government would decide on how to proceed with the Thessaloniki ports tender once the Cosco deal has been approved.

"We have no intention to address the issue of what happened with Thessaloniki until we complete the deal with Cosco," Papaligouras said. "Once that has happened, we will jointly examine with the Ministry of Finance how to proceed and decide on one of several solutions that will be discussed."

Web sites: www.yen.gr; www.thpa.gr; www.hutchison-whampoa.com; www.olp.gr; www.dpworld.com; www.coscopac.com.hk

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Greece to cancel Thessaloniki port tender - sources

ATHENS, March 10 (Reuters) - Greece will annul a tender to privatise and upgrade facilities at the country's second largest port in Thessaloniki (OLTH) , sources close to the deal said on Tuesday.

"We are essentially cancelling the tender," said a company official, who requested anonymity. "The company has already started the expansion process ... using its own funds."

A government official, who declined to be named, confirmed the tender would be cancelled, after the top bidder withdrew due to the global crisis.

A joint venture by Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) and Greek pharmaceutical group Alapis had offered about three billion euros in last year's tender but pulled out in December due to difficulties in financing the project.

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Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa posts 42 percent drop in 2008 profit amid economic slump
26 March 2009

HONG KONG (AP) - Billionaire Li Ka-shing's conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. said Thursday its 2008 profit tumbled by 42 percent as the global economic crisis hampered growth at various businesses.

Net income for the 12 months through December fell to 17.7 billion Hong Kong dollars ($2.3 billion) from HK$30.6 billion ($3.9 billion), the company said in a statement.

Earnings from the company -- a sprawling conglomerate with retail, property, energy, infrastructure and telecom operations in over 50 countries -- beat average analyst forecasts of HK$15.5 billion, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

Revenue grew 13 percent to HK$348 billion.

Slumping trade amid the global downturn restrained growth at its massive port and terminal operation, with total revenue rising only 4 percent. However, the company said losses at its third-generation mobile business narrowed.

While China's economy and stimulus measures would help cushion the Hong Kong-based firm, Hutchison was facing its "most challenging environment in recent times" as growth slows in markets around the world and major economies struggle through recessions, Li said in a statement.

"Although the unprecedented economic environment will have differing adverse effects on the group's various businesses around the world, overall the group's established businesses are still expected to continue to perform satisfactorily," he said.

Meanwhile, lower contributions from affiliate Hutchison hurt Li's flagship developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd., whose net profit for 2008 plummeted 44 percent to $15.5 billion, missing expectations.

In stock trading Thursday, Hutchison Whampoa added 3.3 percent to HK$42.55, while Cheung Kong rose 1.9 percent to HK$71.4.

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Hutchison says to keep buying good value terminals

HONG KONG, March 26 (Reuters) - Hutchison Whampoa , the world's largest container port operator, said on Thursday the company would keep buying shipping terminals in good locations.

"We will keep looking for opportunities to buy terminals if they are in prime locations and the price is right," chairman Li Ka-shing told reporters.

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Amsterdam loses EU2 loop to Rotterdam
22 April 2009
Lloyd's List

AMSTERDAM Container Terminals, formerly known as Ceres Paragon, has been dealt another blow with the news that the Grand Alliance EU2 loop will no longer call at the facility from mid-May, writes Helen Hill in Amsterdam.

The EU2 service will transfer its Netherlands port call to Rotterdam’s ECT. Both Amsterdam Container Terminals and ECT are owned by Hutchison Port Holdings.

Earlier this year, Amsterdam Container Terminals was hit when the Grand Alliance suspended its EU5 service.

Although no one was immediately available for comment, the loss of the EU5 and now the EU2 is understood to have cut throughput at Amsterdam Container Terminals by at least 70%.

The Bangkok Express is expected to be the EU2’s last vessel to call at Amsterdam on May 15. The first call into ECT’s Delta terminals on Rotterdam’s Maasvlakte will be towards end-May. The EU1 service, which connects Europe with Japan, will continue to call into Amsterdam.

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Oman Container Terminal targets higher throughput despite downturn
20 May 2009
Lloyd's List

OMAN International Container Terminal is targeting a throughput two to three times the volumes of 2008, its first full year of operation, despite the financial crisis.

The two-berth terminal aims to profit from the increasing numbers of exports from Sohar and Muscat, and is eyeing more local and transhipment business, which would bring UAE into the commercial equation. The immediate focus is closer to home, however, with OICT targeting a more than 25% share in the total Oman imports and exports market during the year.

Talks are underway to close Muscat’s Port Sultan Qaboos and convert it into a cruise terminal by 2013, which would provide OICT with a further boost from the containerised transfer.

OICT acting chief executive and chief financial officer Dennis Tam said the terminal’s proximity to Sohar would stand it in good stead when the market rebounds. “Sohar stands to boom from the investment in industries within Port of Sohar, Sohar Industrial Estates and the huge Sohar Economic Zone, so we are in a good position,” he said.

“We have broad plans to build more quay length when volumes start to grow again.”

But he conceded that the short-term picture has not been rosy, with imports dropping and exports “sluggish” in the first quarter, although April saw some improvement.

“We have been targeting new revenue streams such as storage, CFS facilities, container repairs — anything that enables us to deliver on budget to our shareholders.”

One encouraging sign has been a slight increase in Oman’s exports, he said. “Oman mainly exports raw materials rather than finished products, so it’s clear some customers are ordering again. That could mean business picking up towards the end of the year.”

OICT receives around five to six calls a week on average with APL, Maersk, UASC, MSC, Star Feeders and CMA-CGM among the principal customers.

Mr Tam said it has among the highest productivity in the region, with 28 container moves per hour, but is conscious “it can do even better”.

Its nGen computerised container yard management system, which has been developed by HPH, provides high efficiencies and productivity and assures shippers peace of mind by logging every single box’s location in the port. The system also enables fast turnaround time of trucks within its yard.

OICT has no plans to increase equipment this year, beyond its four quay cranes and eight rubber-tyred gantries.

OICT is a joint venture between Hutchison Port Holdings, the Government of the Sultanate of Oman, Steinweg of the Netherlands and other well-established Oman and UAE investors.

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Shipping increase hints at improving economy
28 May 2009
The Jakarta Post

Container handling at Tanjung Priok has remained in the doldrums for most of this year, but signs of improvement have been seen in the last two months, according state port operator PT Pelindo II.

President director Richard Lino said Wednesday the number of containers handled from January to late May at the largest port in the country, which handles around 65 percent of total shipments annually, has gone down by 30 percent for imports and 12 percent for exports from the same period last year.

But, he said, there have been signs that activities began to pick up mid March.

"In January and February, the transaction [for container handling] fell deeply. However, afterwards the number has been increasing steadily," Richard said.

Richard was speaking to reporters after new facilities installed by the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) - the largest terminal operator at the port - aimed at increasing its handling capacity were opened.

He however did not provide the exact figures. But, his statements gave weight to suggestions that the global economic downturn, and its impacts, have begun to reach a bottom, which should then lead to a path of recovery.

Also present at the event, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu also expressed her confidence that trade activities at the Jakarta port, and elsewhere, would eventually recover from its slump, which begun in the last quarter of last year at the height of global financial meltdown.

While the economic downturn slows down trade activities, she said, now is actually the right time to make necessary reforms in the anticipation of a rebound.

"Usually the port is too busy to improve itself. However, due to the current economic slowdown, the frequency of shipping has decreased.

"Our ports must improve their capacity now in order to be prepared to give better services to global trade transportation when the slowdown comes to an end."

JICT, which is 51 percent owned by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings and 48.9 percent by PT Pelindo II, had early this year predicted that container handling shrink by 30 percent overall this year to 1.33 million twenty equivalent units (TEUs) of containers, from around 1.9 million TEUs last year.

Tanjung Priok port handled around 3 million TEUs last year, including 1.9 million TEUs managed by JICT.

The new facilities are part of JICT's program to expand and invest more in infrastructure to improve services, president director Derek J. Pierson said.

Investments for this alone have increased JICT's handling capacity to 2.5 million TEUs; further investment would push up the figure to around 3 million.

Pierson said that with continued investments, "productivity has risen from an average of 18 crane moves per hour 10 years ago to almost 29 crane moves per hour today, an improvement of some 60 percent".

According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Indonesia handled 5.74 million TEUs of containers in 2006, far less than the 24.79 million TEUs managed by Singapore.

Mari expects other container terminal operators in the country to keep expanding and investing to ensure Indonesia's trade competitiveness.

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Felixstowe likely to bear brunt of increased charges
25 May 2009
Financial Times

The windswept Suffolk port of Felixstowe would be hardest hit by an increase in light dues. It estimates that calls at its container port, the UK's busiest, account for 20 per cent of all British Isles' light dues receipts, writes Robert Wright .

Owned by Hong Kong's Hutchison Ports, the world's largest container port operator, it could stand to lose many of the direct calls by large container ships that are its main business. Lines might either move UK-bound goods on to smaller feeder ships, which are less profitable for ports to handle, or use their largest, deepsea ships for deliveries to the UK, thereby reducing the overall number of calls.

Felixstowe is also currently unique in the UK in handling significant volumes of trans-shipment - the process of loading or unloading goods from long-haul ships on to short-haul feeder services going to smaller European ports. It recently regained trans-shipment movements from Mediterranean Shipping Company, the world's second-largest container line which had deserted Felixstowe in 2004 for Le Havre because the port was too congested.

The port denies such traffic would automatically be driven away by light dues' increases. It could make more sense for lines to increase loads and make fewer calls at Felixstowe with big ships instead. But there is general nervousness about the likely effects of an increase - not diminished by container lines' obvious determination to avoid extra costs. Many lines transporting goods from Asia to Europe are currently making huge diversions around the Cape of Good Hope because they are unhappy at the level of Suez Canal tolls.