PORT KLANG: Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd recorded a 30% growth in container handling to 2.65 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from January to June compared with the same period last year.

It was the highest first-half year throughput volume ever recorded by the company. Westports also posted an all-time high monthly throughput of 484,000 TEUs last month. Local container volume posted a 25% growth to 724,000 TEUs in the first six months while trans-shipment was up by 26%, the port said in a statement.

Executive director Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said the port was on a stronger platform to achieve 5.4 million TEUs for 2010.

“Thus, we will be investing in container terminal six that comprises an additional 300m berth, 1,500 more ground slots of yard space and four new quay cranes.

“The new terminal is expected to be ready by the second quarter of next year and will increase the port’s capacity to 7.5 million TEUs,” he said.

Ruben said Westports also provided value-added services to customers through its on-dock depot (ODD) and container freight station (CFS) facilities at its terminal.

“The port has seven ODD and four CFS, privately operated by logistics companies. The number of containers handled by these ODDs and CFSs have increased by 66% and 32% respectively this year against 2009,” he said.

Another significant development in the first half was the new world benchmark for productivity set in March. Westports managed to hit crane productivity of 734 moves in a single hour (mph) of operations on a 9,600 TEUs China Shipping vessel with a nine-crane deployment. This exceeded the previous mark of 665 mph done in 2008.

Meanwhile, the port said its conventional business achieved an overall growth of 18% in general and bulk cargo to 4.1 million tonnes in the first six month compared with 3.4 million tonnes registered in the same period a year earlier.

As for roll-on roll-off services, Westports saw a 45% increase in vehicle handling compared with 2009. The contributing factor in growth was an increase in steel products, both imports and exports, while for bulk cargo, the contribution came from an increase in fertiliser imports.

With this growth, Westports said it was on track to achieve its overall target of 8.5 million tonnes for conventional business this year.