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Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd is
confident of securing additional container
volume via its transhipment business to support
its RM800mil port expansion plan.
Westports, one of two leading ports in Port
Klang, recently announced its container terminal
five (CT5) project that will add another 1.2
million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units)
capacity to a total of 7.2 millions TEUs
capacity by year-end.
The port is spending RM460mil for the first
phase of CT5 by developing an additional 600m of
quay length equipped with 10 quay cranes, 30
rubber-tyred gantries and container yards.
The construction of the first 300m of the 600m
quay will be completed by next month and the
remaining in September. Currently, Westports has
nine berths with a 2,600m wharf.
To finance the project, Westports has appointed
OSK Investment Bank Bhd as principal adviser and
lead arranger for the issuance of up to RM800mil
sukuk musyarakah medium-term notes.
The tenure of the sukuk is 15 years from the
issuance date and it is expected to finance
Westport's expansion projects up to container
terminal nine.
Director Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said the port
expansion plan was in tandem with its main line
operators (MLOs) growth in transhipment
business.
“Our MLOs such as CMA CGM, China Shipping, Gold
Star Line and CSAV are expanding rapidly and we
need the extra capacity fast to serve our
customers,” he told StarBiz in an interview.
He added that Westports was able to foresee the
growth of its customers from frequent meetings
with the shipping lines.
“The extra berthing line and facilities will
ensure that our top customers have faster
turnaround time.
“And we are investing in both infrastructure and
human resources. We plan to increase our
workforce to 3,000 by year end from the current
2,600,” he said.
Westports currently has 28 MLOs and 48 feeder
lines calling at its ports.
Ruben Emir said Westports targeted to handle
five millions TEUs this year compared with 4.3
millions TEUs recorded last year.
“Of the five million TEUs, 3.5 million will be
transhipment boxes and the rest are local
boxes,” he said.
He said Westports' expansion plan was not
strategised to cater for the increase in the
number of local containers. The growth in its
container business had not been as fast as that
of its transhipment business.
“Our local throughput of import and export
containers had grown steadily over the years and
we still have ample space for growth.
“Nevertheless, we are not resting on our laurels
but will strive to improve the efficiency of
operations for our local customers.
“Now, we have a full fledged Customs office in
Westports, which is closer to the customers that
support our one-stop centre,” he said.
Westports had also ensured fast turnaround time
for local shippers and importers to drop and
retrieve their containers.
“Haulage operators can currently drop boxes at
our yard with a a turnaround time of 15 minutes
and pick up boxes within 20 minutes,” he said.
Besides containers, the port is also beefing up
the growth of other cargo at the port.
“We expect to handle 100,000 cars this year
compared with 15,000 cars last year.
“We are also focusing on enhancing dry bulk and
liquid bulk operations,” he said.
Westports also plans to embark on overseas
expansion through port management contracts and
the acquisition of stakes.
“Presently, we are the top five short-listed
bidders for port management contracts with the
option of acquiring stakes in major ports
currently developed in India.
“If we were awarded the contracts, we will
consider buying 10% to 30% stakes in those
ports,” he said.
In terms of revenue, Ruben expects the port to
achieve RM950mil this year compared with
RM850mil last year. |
