International Competition Port For Malaysia

Part of the regional system overview is to establish the port facilities that are important players in the SE Asia region outside Malaysia s borders. The main shipping lines connecting East Asia and the west American coast to Europe pass through the Malacca straits. The routes through Sunda or Lombok are currently underutilized partly due to lack of infrastructure although they present some advantages in terms of accessibility, like greater depths and less traffic.The unique vessel concentration of the Malacca straits presents an opportunity for expansion for the regional port industry and fiercer competition at the same time. 

Nature of competition

Generally for the port industry the competition relies on:

(i)  Attracting cargoes for shipping from the mainland

(ii)  Attracting transshipment traffic from one hub port to another.

In Malaysia both these cases occur. Malaysian freighters have the option of choosing Singapore for their shipping needs, due to the proximity and good mainland connections. At the same time Malaysian and other SE Asia ports are competing for the transshipment market. The latter is the most prominent competition arena  Since bulk freight is rarely if ever serviced by non-national ports (only special cases of lack of equipment or dramatic price differences would justify a different strategy), the rival or potentially rival ports are examined here in terms of their container handling capacity. Malaysia has a competition such as:

Singapore

Singapore Port Authority (PSA) operates the biggest port in the SE Asia region and is second in the year 2013 global ranking after Shanghai. As a result, it dominates the regional market. In 2011 it had a 15.5m TEU throughput. Regional competition, though, resulted in a 9% reduction compared with the 2000 container volume. Cheaper tariffs and deals drove MAERSK Sealand and Evergreen to PTP. PSA is a government owned port, which has undergone partial privatization. Additionally to the national market, PSA has ventures in nine foreign ports (Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, China; Genoa, Venice, Civitavecchia and Livorno in Italy; Sine in Portugal Aden in Middle East and Picava in India; of importance are also the operations of a

PSA Marau Terminal in Brunei) Beyond the foreign competition, it faces also small-scale internal

competition by the recently founded Jurong Port.  The market segment that is attracted to PKA is quite different than that of PSA. Based on a container flow model, the Maritime Policy Planning Model (MPPM), indicates in the container transshipment market PKA will appeal mostly to Western Asia, ANZ Pacific Islands and other.

Singapore Port

 Indonesia

A bit distanced from the transshipment waterway, Indonesian terminals have a potential to become competitive. Although affected more than Malaysian facilities by the 1997 crisis, Indonesian Ports have regained their position. The two most important Indonesian facilities are the Tanjung Priok and Tanjung Perak:

·        Tanjung Priok
This is a privately owned facility of which Hutchison group owns 50% of the shares. It

features two major terminals: Koja Terminal and Jakarta International Container

Terminal.

Tanjung Priok Port

 ·        Tanjung Perak

This facility handles containers in dedicated as well as conventional multi-purpose berths

3.       Thailand

Thailand hosts a number of industries that present a significant market for international

shipping. A segment of the Thailand s market is captured by the Malaysian ports (mostly

Klang, but also Penang and now PTP) either by use of feeder services or rail. The two

major port facilities that operate in Thailand is Laem Chapang and the Bangkok Port.

Both facilities are owned and operated by the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT).  

·         Laem Chabang Port (LCP)

·         Bangkok Port (BKP)

Bangkok Port 

4.       Other Countries

The ports described above would be considered the most important potential competitors

for Malaysia. Other potentially competitive ports in the region, which either lack the

facilities and infrastructure for competitiveness or are too remote, are the following.

·         Philippines: Manila Port

·         Brunei Darussalam: Muara Port

·         Vietnam: Saigon Port

·         Myanmar: Yangon Port

·         Cambodia: Port of Sihanoukville (Kampong Saom)

·         Sri Lanka: Colombo

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