PTP volume up 15% in 2011

   The Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in southern Malaysia handled 7.5 million TEUs in 2011, an increase of 15 percent over 2010.
   “This sharp increase was driven by strong organic growth from existing customers as well as volume from new customers,” the port said. “Container volume from PTP’s main existing customers, Maersk Line and Evergreen, increased by 16 percent over the previous year. The port has also seen new shipping lines during the year, including Hanjin and STX Pan Ocean of Korea, MOL and ‘K’ Line of Japan and China Shipping.”
   PTP started out predominantly as a transshipment port, set up to compete with the nearby Port of Singapore, but it has also been able to tap into growing manufacturing and production in southern Malaysia, a key locale in the fast-growing intra-Asia trade.
   PTP is also one of seven ports that Maersk has included in its new Daily Maersk service, a daily service between the Far East and Northern Europe involving 70 vessels operating between four megaports in Asia and three ports in Europe.