APM TERMINALS, the AP Moller-Maersk's port operator, posted a 32 per cent year-on-year third quarter profit increase to US$203 million, boosted by a record container volume of 9.3 million TEU, up four per cent. No revenue figures were made available.
Despite the good news, APM T chief executive Kim Fejifer said times have changed for the worse and rising costs were expected as bigger ships are cascading into secondary routes.
"This will lead to cost increases-partly due to lower berth utilisation, partly to investments in more equipment and adaptation. The burden of these rising costs will have to be shared between the customers and the port operators," he said.
The handling of Hamburg Sud's 9,700-TEU San Nicholas is an example of the larger ships now cascading into secondary trades and the growing entry of 18,000-TEU vessels on the primary Asia-Europe trade.
The terminal operator is "well under way" for a yearly profit of US$1 billion by 2016, he added, supported by operational improvements, record productivity levels and focus on investments in emerging markets.
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