PTP expects more shipping lines
Fairplay International
Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia says it is poised to add “a few more” independent shipping lines.
The port is competing with neighbour Singapore for container cargo. Expectations have mounted following the latest success in attracting Singapore’s electronics firm Flextronics to set up a Malaysian Ringgit400M ($105.2M) industrial complex within the Pelepas Free Zone.
The complex, scheduled to be operational from April 2006, will serve as a regional hub for the company.
“This is the big start we have anticipated,” PTP Chief Executive Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman said referring to the global portfolio of Flextronics that covers 30 countries.
The free zone provides a number of concessions in terms of free import duty and tax breaks.
More than 90% of PTP’s volumes are generated from transhipment, but the free zone facility is expected to boost hinterland traffic from the fast-growing south-western corridor of Johor. Volumes for the first six months at PTP this year exceeded 2M TEU. Throughput for 2004 was a record 4.02M TEU.