LANDLORD Port of Melbourne Corporation's (POMC) decision to raise rents 767 per cent has shocked stakeholders with many predicting devastating cargo losses from Australia's No 1 seaport.
"Melbourne has been Australia's logistics capital for over 150 years, but if the rent increase within the port is to be considered, that title will be lost," said Victorian Transport Association CEO Peter Anderson.
Mr Anderson's statement came as CMA CGM-owned Australian container shipping line ANL said it would move out of the city if costs rose by such an amount, reported Australasian Transport News (ATN) of Brisbane.
"The astronomical rent increase will make Melbourne one of the most expensive ports in Australia and completely uncompetitive on a global scale.
"Following the enormous rent increase, what we'll see is a shift in freight activity with neighbouring states benefiting from these changes in cost structure and potentially reducing Victoria's long-term economic viability.
Macquarie analyst James Rosenberg suggested to Sky News that the likely rise was 250 per cent to A$45 (US$35) a square metre, rather than the mooted A$120 a square metre.
DP World said such a hike could see 200,000 TEU of the port's present 305,000 Tasmanian-linked throughput lost to Melbourne, due to international direct calls and volume shifted to other ports.
This would include DP World's 59,000 TEU of international containers that it says would be shifted immediately to Sydney or Adelaide or even Brisbane.
Local DP World chief Paul Scurrah said the rent increase would be a blow to the Tasmanian economy. "It is in effect a tax being placed on Tasmanian businesses by the Victorian government."
Tasmanian Infrastructure minister Rene Hidding said he will meet with Victorian ports minister Luke Donnellan and seek a meeting between Tasmanian premier Will Hodgman and Victoria premier Daniel Andrews.
Some carriers may consider direct calls at Tasmania's Bell Bay's port with its tide-related draught of 11.5 metres and difficulty accommodating ships of more than 250 metres that draw more than nine metres.
At present, the only such call is made by the Mediterranean Shipping Company-controlled geared 1,298-TEU Hohebank, which draws 8.8 metres and is 139 metres stem to stern.
Most ships calling at Australian ports come in at 4,000 TEU and draw between eight and 14 metres.
PORTS
10 March 2015 - 10:22
Melbourne's port 767pc rent hike 'risks mass cargo diversion'
LANDLORD Port of Melbourne Corporation's (POMC) decision to raise rents 767 per cent has shocked stakeholders with many predicting devastating cargo losses from Australia's No 1 seaport.
PORTS
10 March 2015 - 10:22
Melbourne's port 767pc rent hike 'risks mass cargo diversion'
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