Its chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman said Berths 7 and 8, as part of Phase 2, were completed in July and PTP had embarked on yard expansion behind the two berths. 

He said the port had also ordered 15 rubber tyred gantry (RTG) cranes for delivery in mid 2005, and 3 + 3 Super Post Panamax Quaycranes for delivery before end of next year.  

"Our emphasis from now on will be market leadership. Vessel new buildings are at an all time high and global trade is still high. 

"We need to continue building, ordering cranes and equipment to meet expectations of even higher productivity and turnaround," he said in an interview with The Star. 

He said PTP handled 3.03mil TEUs from January to September this year, a 20% increase compared with the same period in 2003. "The port should be able to exceed four million TEUs this year," he added.  

Local cargo handled also showed an impressive gain of over 16% over the first nine months of 2004 from the 2003 figure of 105,581.5 TEUs. 

Transhipment volumes recorded an even higher increase of over 20%. 

Mohd Sidik said the current trend of container ships getting bigger and bigger now placed PTP at an advantage because all its cranes were Super Post Panamax, and all its berths were able to berth large container vessels.  

"We will however always need to be ahead of demand, and ahead of shipping lines' expectations.  

"The organic growth is extremely strong now, and Malaysian ports and PSA have been able to enjoy double-digit growth rates.  

"This should continue for at least the next two years," he said. 

As with most other major ports, he said the greatest challenge today was in estimating demand, organic growth over the next few years and still have further space for new prospects.  

"Forecasting is not an exact science, but PTPwill always try to ensure that capacity is never an issue.  

On the success rate of Malaysian meant boxes being handled by local ports rather than Singapore, Mohd Sidik said before the set-up of Westport, and subsequently PTP, there were a significant number of full container loads that used to be trucked to Singapore daily.  

"This is no longer a sight at the causeway. The success due to efforts by the Malaysian government has therefore been tremendous.  

"What we now need to work on together with Senai Airport is also the loose cargo that is consolidated in Singapore warehouses.  

"Logistics cost and warehousing costs is much lower in Malaysia, and the presence of major ports, lines and airports will be able to reduce this movement as well in the future." 

Asked what the Lloyd's FTB Asia Awards meant to PTP, he said: "The Best Container Terminal Award is a transition from the Best Emerging Container Terminal Award that PTP received from Lloyds in 2001.  

"It is a historic triumph both for PTP and the nation, especially given that Westport was also nominated for the same award alongside HIT and PSA. It shows that Malaysian ports have come a long way, " he said. 

Mohd Sidik said given that the final stage of decision-making was an independent international panel of 12 judges with set criterion, PTP believed that the strongest factors were customer confidence in its facility.  

"Our efficiency, responsive to needs, and market leadership aside from growth and volumes were also key factors that contributed to PTP emerging as the Container Terminal of the year," he said. 

Mohd Sidik added that support from key Malaysian and international press also helped keep the PTP branding strong. 

He, however, refused to comment when asked about talk to split the second phase of PTP expansion plans into a separate entity and inviting PSA to team-up in the operations of the terminal.