Work needed in Vietnam despite development

Work needed in Vietnam despite development    Vietnam must provide sufficient channel depth and landside infrastructure to cater for an expected surge of container traffic through its deepwater port complex near Ho Chi Minh City, an APM Terminals official said this week.
   Malcolm Gregory, chief commercial officer of the Cai Mep International Terminal, said these improvements are needed if 8,000-TEU ships are to regularly serve all the new terminals being developed in the Cai Mep area, some two hours south of Ho Chi Minh City.

Gregory

   CMIT, being developed by APM Terminals, is one of four new terminals due to open through 2013, adding to capacity already available in the Cai Mep region, Vietnam's first deepwater port complex. APMT's facility is to open in January and would provide 1.1 million TEUs of container capacity.
   'Growth in trade and corresponding container traffic at Southern Vietnam's gateway Ho Chi Minh City port complex is jumping, and in response there has been tremendous activity in terminal investment,' Gregory said at the fourth annual Vietnam Ports and Logistics Conference in Ho Chi Minh City. 'Sufficient access channel depth will be one of the primary determining factors of which facilities cater to which segments of Vietnam's container trade.'
   He added that a lack of modern road and rail infrastructure keep much of Vietnam's container transportation inland by barge service, which is projected to account for almost half of deepwater terminal traffic in 2010, adding to capacity requirements. The Cai Mep complex and Ho Chi Minh City's smaller, river-based container terminals are projected to handle 4.2 million TEUs this year, up about 16 percent from last year. Ho Chi Minh City terminals handle about two-thirds of Vietnam's container volume.
   'Long-haul transpacific and Europe trades, representing nearly 30 percent of Ho Chi Minh City port traffic, will continue to migrate to the new deepwater terminals as newer, larger vessels come into service, so there is a very real need for capacity and capability expansion, but new project completion dates need to be aligned with expected market need,' Gregory said.