Ports of Australia & Asia: In Brief

Business Asia, Oct 31, 1999

* Singapore -- After successfully privatising two ports, Indonesia plans to privatise two more ports, Belawan on Sumatra island and Tanjung Emas in Semarang, next year or in 2001, the Shipping Times said, citing Albertus Sumardi, managing director of the Indonesia Port Corp (Pelindo). Tanjung Emas handled 212,026 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container capacity last year while Belwan handled 202,786 TEUs. Pelindo also plans to list Tanjung Priok, which is owned by Jakarta International Container Terminal, and Tanjung Perak, owned by PT Terminal Petikemas Surabaya, an Indonesia-Australian venture, in the next two years. -- Bloomberg

* Washington -- The Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, a group of shipping companies operating in US-Asia trade, said it's seeking to raise rates as much as 15 per cent for Asian cargo bound for the US to cover added operating costs during next year's peak shipping season. Cargo volume in the US$200-billion-a-year Pacific trade is expected to grow by 8 per cent in 2000, driven by continued US economic growth and rising demand for goods from Asia, the group said. That increase comes on top of the 10 to 15 per cent growth projected for this year. The shipping lines say they're faced with rising labour and trucking costs and expenses associated with returning empty containers to Asia. -- Bloomberg

* Taipei -- Uniglory Marine Corp said it has teamed up with a unit of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co, the mainland's largest shipping company, to service the China-Persian Gulf route. The venture will include five COSCO ships and two Uniglory vessels, both of 1600 TEU capacity. It's the first alliance between Uniglory and COSCO, though Uniglory's Taiwan parent, Evergreen Group, has other business ventures with COSCO. The venture "will not only cut down on related shipping costs, but will also greatly shorten commodity shipping time and help shipping customers get the best business opportunities", Uniglory said in a statement. -- Bloomberg