VARIOUS parties have reacted to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC)’s ‘Container stevedoring monitoring report 2023-24’, which was published last Friday (20 December).
Published annually, this year’s report revealed that congestion, delays, and higher costs caused by supply chain disruptions have resulted in some importers having to pay four to 11 times as much for ocean freight as they did a year earlier.
The ACCC flagged concerns raised about limited competition on the landside charges charged by stevedores, and notification fees charged by empty-container parks leading to “poor outcomes” for Australian consumers and businesses.
In an official response to the ACCC’s report released on 20 December, Patrick Terminals said it did not agree with observations in the report about the competitiveness of the container terminal industry, including for landside services.
“Some of the ACCC’s observations appear to be based on incomplete or inaccurate information and may present a misleading view of significant matters,” the statement said.
“Patrick is committed to the voluntary pricing guidelines and reasonable enhancements over time.
“Further enhancements that address the ACCC’s observations about supporting shippers to make informed business decisions have just been implemented and should be given time to demonstrate their effectiveness.”
Paul Zalai, director of the Freight & Trade Alliance, ‘shared’ the official Patrick’s statement on his LinkedIn page, addressing it directly by stating, “…not sure how many people will swallow this response aimed at watering down the ACCC report and commissioner Anna Brakey reference to exorbitant landside fees as a ‘market failure’”.
“Moving forward, we encourage Patrick to continue making investments at your impressive facilities. We also note that you, and all other stevedores, have increasing rent, labor, security and energy costs.
“The difference with stevedores is that you have discovered you have reduced reliance on revenue from your commercial customer (foreign owned shipping lines) and instead can open a ‘money tap’ in the form of landside fees whereby transport operators have no option but to pay.”
Mr Zalai said the FTA commends the ACCC for their report and look “forward to the views of both sides of government as we head to a federal election in 2025”.
Meanwhile, the Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) released a statement regarding the report, stating it would CTAA analyse the report “closely and in conjunction with our Alliance companies will formulate responses to the issues raised”.
The CTAA said this will include its response to the ever-increasing evidence that some intervention in the market is necessary at the national level to regulate pricing and fee structures due to “market failures”.
The ACCC report found that, between 2016-17 and 2023-24, real stevedoring industry total revenue per lift increased by $72.16 per container (or 22.6 per cent), while real stevedoring industry total costs per lift have increased by $24.22 per container (or 8.9 per cent).
