The National Transport Commission’s (NTC) public consultation period on proposed updates to national landside stevedoring charges is set to close this week.
The NTC is reminding container logistics stakeholders that consultation on updates to the National Voluntary Guidelines for Landside Stevedoring Charges shuts this Friday March 13.
The NTC consultation paper outlines proposed updates to align guidelines with Victoria’s Voluntary Pricing Protocol and to extend their application to empty container park operators.
This review comes as a recent ACCC report found that Australia’s container stevedores are charging record high prices and making historic profits despite having significant spare capacity in ports.
In 2024-25, stevedoring profits rose for the fifth consecutive year, continuing the trend that all revenue increases have been derived from landside charges.
The Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) says container logistics industry members have witnessed similar pricing dynamics occur over the past decade in empty container parks.
It says that it remains to be seen whether the voluntary approach to stevedore charging and its extension to empty container park operators will suffice.
“One significant deficiency in the voluntary approach is that it does not include a rigorous regulatory oversight of the level to which all parties in the supply chain, particularly the foreign-owned and operated shipping lines, share fairly in the revenue collection by container terminals and empty container park operators to ensure the right level of investment, operational cost recovery and profitability in the sector,” the CTAA says.