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THE 2024 Container Port Performance Index (CPPI), released by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence, paints an interesting picture of global container port efficiency. Out of 403 ports benchmarked worldwide, Australia's ports again sit in the lower half of the table, a result that raises fair questions about how efficiency is being measured, and why costs keep rising despite significant investment and consistently strong landside performance.
Globally, East Asian ports continue to set the benchmark for efficiency. China's Yangshan Port has held the top spot for three consecutive years, closely followed by Fuzhou. Ports in developing economies such as Senegal, India, Türkiye, and Ecuador have also made notable gains, proving that with the right mix of strategy, support, and innovation, even major disruptions, from COVID-19 to the Red Sea crisis, don't have to halt progress.
Australia's results, by contrast, remain puzzling. The CPPI measures total vessel time in port, minutes per move, a metric that naturally favours larger ships and high-crane-density operations. Australian ports typically handle smaller vessels of around 5,000 TEU, so a direct comparison with mega-hubs like Shanghai or Singapore isn't entirely fair. Yet even when accounting for these differences, our rankings suggest something deeper is at play.
On the landside, costs keep climbing, creating a difficult balancing act for importers, exporters and logistics operators who are paying more but not necessarily seeing the benefits.
- Terminal Access Charges (TACs) have generated close to $2 billion across major ports in the past four years, with further increases of up to 9.9% expected in early 2025.
- Empty Container Park (ECP) notification fees have jumped from around $5.50 per container to an average of $120, with some exceeding $250, adding up to $1.38 billion in costs over six years.
These charges aren't optional, and operators have limited ability to influence or avoid them. The combined impact of TACs and ECP fees now exceeds $1 billion annually, squeezing margins and undermining competitiveness across the supply chain.
To be fair, Australian ports continue to deliver some impressive operational results. Truck turnaround times average under 40 minutes, and container dwell times hover around three days, metrics that many global operators would envy. Around $3.8 billion has been invested in infrastructure and efficiency improvements over the past five years. But despite this, rising costs and poor global rankings continue to overshadow these gains.
And that raises a critical question: if billions have been spent on infrastructure, shouldn't productivity and efficiency gains be evident, and at what point does the cost become too much? Who decides when those increases leave key import and export industries vulnerable?
Stevedores continue to lift rates annually, often with little accountability, and in some cases by more than 50% in a single year. The lack of an independent oversight mechanism allows these increases to continue unchecked, a situation that directly contradicts the intent of the Voluntary Pricing Protocols (VPP).
This is why the call for stronger regulation continues to grow. The industry isn't asking for intervention for its own sake, it's asking for fairness, transparency, and a clear link between cost increases and measurable efficiency outcomes. Price hikes should be justified by performance improvements, not simply passed through as routine business practice.
The VPP for stevedores and ECPs, recognised under the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers' Meetings (ITMM) guidelines, was a positive step toward transparency. But as the name suggests, participation is voluntary, and without consistent enforcement, its influence is limited.
Ultimately, the CPPI reminds us that performance isn't just about how fast ships are worked, it's about the broader ecosystem that supports trade. Australia's ports do many things well, but unless cost structures are brought under control, we risk paying premium prices for average global results.
The challenge now is to find the balance: to maintain efficient, world-class operations while ensuring that the cost of doing business remains fair, transparent, and sustainable.
This article appeared on line at www.dcn.com.au