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DP World proceeds with stevedore charge increases

CTAA ushers in new year with renewed calls for investigation, regulation

 

Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) reports DP World Australia (DPWA) has proceeded with its higher landside infrastructure charges from January 1, 2019 despite significant opposition from the landside container logistics sector.

DPWA’s vehicle booking system (VBS) fees have also increased more than 80 per cent, from $6.89 per container slot to $12.95 per slot.

CTAA says it is “an unprecedented increase, with no corresponding significant improvement in the functionality of the 1-Stop VBS platform”.

“It’s worth repeating that since April 2017, DP World Australia has imposed infrastructure charge increases levied on container transport operators of over 1,000 per cent in Melbourne, 247 per cent in Sydney and 86 per cent in Brisbane, with no negotiation, no transparency, and no ability for transport operators to resist, least their terminal access may be denied,” CTAA director Neil Chambers says.

Following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC’s) 2018 Container Stevedoring Monitoring Report, which called for a more detailed examination by state governments, and, if warranted, a regulatory response, CTAA says it has been liaising with governments in this space.


ACCC report sparks TWU concern and DP World defiance. Read more, here


“We have urged the incoming Victorian Minister for Ports, Melissa Horne, and Freight Victoria (within Transport for Victoria), to proceed with this review as a matter of urgency,” Chalmers says.

“Discussions also continue with the NSW Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, and Transport for NSW about similar investigations.”

The CTAA has urged stevedore infrastructure charge restraint during investigations.

“Prior to these government investigations proceeding, CTAA urges the other Australian container stevedore companies to show restraint at this time and not impose similar infrastructure charge hikes as those imposed by DPWA,” Chambers says.

“For instance, the cycle for Patrick Terminals to consider and announce its level of Infrastructure charges across its Australian container terminals has been in March each year.”

“We’d urge Patrick Terminals, and also Hutchison Ports Australia and Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT), and most recently Australian Amalgamated Terminals (AAT) in the Port of Brisbane which introduced a new Infrastructure Charge of $38.70 per full container in October 2018, not to act unilaterally in this way, but to collaborate with the promised review(s).”

 

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