HUTCHINSON Ports Australia’s announcement of an increase to its infrastructure levy last week has been received with concern by the Container Transport Alliance Australia.
Under the new guidelines, HPA will charge an infrastructure levy of $159.98 to full containers handled at its Sydney operations beginning 1 June, equating to a 17.20% incresse.
In Brisbane, it will charge an infrastructure levy of $162.10 to full containers beginning 1 May, which is an increase of 21.79%.
CTAA director Neil Chambers said it was “very concerning” that HPA has chosen not to adhere to the voluntary National Guidelines for Landside Stevedore Charges endorsed by all federal and state transport ministers.
“HPA would have known about the existence of the National Guidelines and would have been consulted by the NTC about the protocols, yet they have chosen to ignore them” Mr Chambers said.
He said Patrick Terminals and DP World Australia, in contrast, had voluntarily pledged to abide by the national guidelines, and appeared to have proven their commitment to the protocols.
According to the CTAA, this commitment was evident in the implementation of longer notice periods and a greater level of dialogue regarding the reasons for the proposed increases in landside fees.
“In HPA’s case, they have ignored all three of the agreed voluntary protocols, with notice periods less than 60 calendar days, and no detailed rationale for the significant percentage increases advised,” CTAA said.
CTAA highlighted the HPA’s statement that it had delayed the recovery of capital expenditure and other infrastructure costs this year, and that the infrastructure levy was adjusted because it only partially covered the cost of expenditure necessary to deliver yard services.
“In addition, HPA has stated that ‘it is pertinent to note that Landside Tariffs have remained well below the cost of service delivery for some time and these also have now come under review due to cost increases to the business’,” CTAA said.
CTAA said the increases now make the infrastructure levies charged by HPA in Sydney and Brisbane the highest landside infrastructure fees of any other container terminal in Australia.
Additionally, transport operators and their customers are reportedly not experiencing landside productivity improvements or offsets for the higher prices.
“Indeed, even [Tuesday 26 April] as an example, the truck turnaround times at Hutchison’s Sydney Terminal have blown out to over 49 minutes, which is double the latest average TTT at all container terminals in Sydney of 24.2 minutes,” CTAA said.
“Also, in Brisbane today, HPA’s terminal has a published TTT of above 40 minutes, and in recent months TTTs have been recorded at over 100 minutes.
“If forwarders, importers, and exporters want to avoid these high landside charges at HPA, as well as allow their transport providers to avoid lengthy truck delays, then it may pay them to consign their ocean freight with shipping lines that do not use Hutchison Ports Australia for their stevedore services in Sydney or Brisbane.”
CTAA said it is engaging with federal and state governments about an apparent disconnect between rising landside fees imposed by container stevedore companies and “stagnant or deteriorating” productivity.
