|
|
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.
|
