Asian ports will shift to providing value-added services rather than cost incentives to draw customers in the wake of intensifying competition, a port executive says.
The statement was made by Mohamed Sidik Shaik Osman, chief executive of Malaysian Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), which recently has thrown down the gauntlet to neighbouring Singapore giant PSA Corp by weaning away Maersk-Sealand.
He said at the Terminal Operations Conference in Hong Kong that the increased need for transshipment activity in Asia had seen the emergence of new hub ports such as PTP.
To prepare for the trade boom and the arrival of ever-bigger container ships, these ports were ensuring wide and deep access channels and wharves, he added.
PTP, a relative newcomer to the port scene, also is acting to increase productivity to accommodate the larger vessels.
The port, which handled more than 450,000 teu (20 ft equivalent units) last year, is aiming to move nearly 2.5 million teu this year.