PSA grapples with sluggish global trade

This is an increase of 5.5% from 2015, PSA Singapore Terminals contributed 30.59m TEU and PSA terminals outside Singapore handled 37.04m TEU, an increase of 10.6%.

Tan Chong Meng, Group CEO of PSA, said: “2016 served up another difficult year for the port and shipping industry. We had to grapple with sluggish global trade, weak demand for container shipment, sustained excess shipping capacity and depressed freight rates.”

He added: “Against this unsettling landscape, the PSA Group managed to achieve positive growth, and we are grateful to our customers and partners for their continued patronage and support at our terminals around the world. I would also like to convey deep appreciation to our unions and staff for their dedication and hard work in the face of the many challenges.”

PSA said it expects tough business environments to continue through 2017 and thinks we will witness more system-wide changes through the convergence of slow market growth, emerging technologies and new business needs.

Mr Meng concluded: “At PSA, we believe these challenges will spur us to be more focused on our customers’ needs, more innovative in our pursuit of win-win solutions and more united as a workforce. I am confident that we will emerge stronger from these hard times, alongside our people, our customers, partners and other stakeholders.”