CMIT out of the storm

The southern ports of Cai Mep – Thi Vai have come a long way from the dire utilisation rates of two years ago and are showing a first quarter 2016, year-on-year rise of 38%. Further, over the same period CMIT itself has seen container volumes surge by 130% and is now near to its 1.1m teu capacity.

CMIT, a joint venture between APM Terminals, Saigon Port and Vinalines, is now pulling in a number of direct calls and has recently gained the O3’s Columbus (east and west) services along with the FAL 23 and CKYHE NE 2 north European routes.

More may be to come: according to the different commentaries the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) could raise Vietnam’s GDP by between 20% and 30%. Speaking to Port Strategy, Mr Hambleton said this would “translate in a fairly straightforward way into throughput” for the country, but he says that bigger 14,000 teu vessels will favour direct calls into Cai Mep.

Regarding the other recently signed free trade agreement, the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement, Mr Hambleton said it is too early to predict the impact of the Brexit referendum on Vietnam. “It may just carry on without the UK, or try to pull it in as a third party in a three-way trade agreement with Europe,” said Mr Hambleton. However, a slightly bigger issue has been the dip in both the pound and Euro making Vietnam’s typically price-sensitive goods more expensive all round – although the overall effect may be transitory it’s too early to say what the final outcome will be.

By Stevie Knight