PTP seeks more non-transshipment cargo as it approaches 5 million TEUs

PTP seeks more non-transshipment cargo as it approaches 5 million TEUs The Port of Tanjung Pelepas expects to top the 5-million-TEU plateau this year and focus more on import-export cargo in coming years, port officials told American Shipper Wednesday in Malaysia.
   The port, which is a main transshipment hub for Maersk Line and also has significant volume from Taiwanese carrier Evergreen, is overwhelmingly reliant on transshipment — about 95 percent of its cargo. But officials want that balance to become 85 percent transshipment and 15 percent import-export over the next few years as attractive tax and customs incentives offered by the Malaysian state of Johor entice manufacturers into the region.
   The port has capacity for 8 million TEUs at its 10 berths, with two more ready to be built if demand is sufficient.
   PTP competes with the more established Port of Singapore for transshipment cargo in the region. The ports are separated by less than an hour’s drive as PTP is minutes from the Singapore-Malaysia border. But Singapore, the world’s busiest port in terms of container volume, is expected to handle 27 million TEUs this year, more than a 10 percent increase over 2006 volumes.
   PTP officials said they are no longer competing with Singapore on cost, as they did when the port opened in 2000. Now they are offering an uncongested terminal with room for expansion, synergies with logistics parks located adjacent to the container terminal, and cheaper labor for manufacturers who locate in the free trade zone near the port.