That’s according to Marco Neelsen, chief executive of Malaysia’s Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), who added at TOC Asia that the increasing cost of creating ports is raising the barrier to entry.
“Negotiation power is going down with the alliances,” Mr Neelsen continued. “You need capacity and you need spare capacity.”
PTP has spent $400m in 2017 and 2018 so far on infrastructure to ensure that the terminal remains competitive, he said, with the port also having to obtain larger cranes “to stay in the game”.
“You need to invest in infrastructure,” Mr Neelsen said. “We have invested, but we have to continue to invest.” PTP anticipates it will have 55 berths with a capacity of 53m teu by 2070.