Malaysia-headquartered MMC Corp. Bhd will invest MYR2 billion (US$666 million) in upgrading the capacity and efficiency of both the Johor Port and Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Malaysia to increase the ports’ competitiveness in global shipping.
Group managing director Datuk Hasni Harun said MYR1.6 billion will be spent on the construction of two new berths and electrification of the rubber-tired gantries at PTP. These projects are expected to raise the port’s annual handling capacity in 2014 to 10.5 million TEUs from the current 7.7 million TEUs a year.
Meanwhile, MYR421 million will be allocated for Johor Port, Malaysia’s leading multipurpose port, to increase its capacity to 45 million freight weight tonnes by 2015 from 35 million FWT currently.
Hasni said the expansion of PTP is intended to accommodate more cargo from A.P. Moller-Maersk, which has a 30 percent stake in the port, Malaysia’s largest container terminal. Of the seven million TEUs handled by PTP last year, about six million TEUs were from Maersk Line and a few million TEUs from the carrier were handled by the Singapore port.
“If our ports are ready in terms of capacity and efficiency, those few million TEUs handled by Singapore may be moved to PTP,” Hasni told local reporters.
PTP, of which MMC holds a 70 percent share, and Johor Port, which is fully owned by the company, hold a combined 42 percent share of the port business in Malaysia.
Johor Port is being expanded to cater to the growing oil and gas business. MMC wants to boost the port’s annual throughput of 32.9 million FWT in 2012 to 45 million FWT in the next three years.
