MUMBAI's Gateway Terminals, controlled by Maersk's APMT, has said it will cut throughput the Mumbai area terminal after the Indian High Court upheld the 44 per cent reduction in terminal handling charges (THC) ordered by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP).
Gateway Terminals confirmed the company was looking to restrict the capacity of its Jawaharlal Nehru (JN port) facility to 1.4 million TEU. After the rate cut was ordered, Gateway told JN port it will load only 1.4 million containers a year - the number it can handle based on the optimum quay capacity of the terminal for the next three years, ending December 31, 2014.
"Handling higher volumes will depend on how the tariff case is settled; we cannot be perpetually running in losses," said Gateway chief executive P Agrawal, reported Livemint Wall Street Journal.
But Jawaharlal Nehru port operations chief SN Maharana said: "This is not acceptable to us. Gateway has declared a capacity of 1.8 million standard containers a year. If the capacity is reduced, exporters and importers will suffer."
Gateway Terminals is 74 per cent owned by APM Terminals Management BV, the world's third-biggest container port operator with state-run Container Corp of India (Concor) holding the balance.
Gateway Terminals loaded 1.85 TEU in 2010-2011, accounting for 20 per cent of India's national throughput.
Gateway had asked TAMP for an increase of 8.72 per cent on the existing rates arguing it could handle more than 2.1 million TEU.
Said a Mumbai and Nhava Sheva Ship Agents Association spokesman: "There is lack of capacity in JN port. If private terminals deliberately reduce volumes, it will seriously affect the trade."
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News