As outlined in our member notice from Friday 12 December 2025, Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) continue to escalate member concerns regarding incontestable stevedore and empty container park charges, following the announcement of new landside tariffs effective 1 January 2026, and the release of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission's (ACCC) latest ACCC Container Stevedoring Monitoring Report. FTA/APSA have maintained a strong public advocacy presence, using national, regional and industry media platforms to reinforce these concerns with government and regulators. Our engagement has focused squarely on the economic and productivity consequences of unchecked landside pricing — including the inflationary impacts flowing through supply chains, the erosion of export competitiveness, and the increasing disconnect between charges imposed and actual terminal investment or performance outcomes. We thank 2GB, ABC, Daily Cargo News and S&P Global Journal of Commerce for their coverage and continued scrutiny of these issues.
SUMMARY
Speaking with 2GB Rural News, FTA/APSA highlighted the ACCC's assessment that current stevedoring practices point to apparent market failure, with terminal operators recording record profits despite limited competitive tension. The ACCC's report confirms that revenue derived from terminal access and landside charges now far exceeds terminal capital investment, with industry paying more than 2.5 times total capex through these fees since 2016–17. FTA/APSA's Tom Jensen noted that landside charges have increased by at least 15% annually over several years, rising to well over $200, while exporters, transport operators and farmers have no capacity to negotiate or avoid these costs. He emphasised that the charges are increasingly detached from labour costs or genuine efficiency improvements, particularly as terminals continue to automate operations. SUMMARY
On ABC Country Hour, FTA/APSA joined grain growers and agricultural stakeholders in backing the ACCC's call for urgent government action to address escalating port charges. The program highlighted the severe impact on exporters who are unable to pass on rising landside costs in globally priced commodity markets. FTA/APSA reiterated that terminal access and landside charges are now a structural cost burden on Australian exports, directly undermining competitiveness and regional economic outcomes. The ACCC's findings were cited as evidence that pricing outcomes are not being constrained by competition, with costs steadily shifting from shipping lines onto landside operators and exporters since port privatisation. SUMMARY
Reporting in Daily Cargo News reinforced industry concerns that rising stevedore profitability is being driven overwhelmingly by landside charges imposed on transport operators, rather than gains in productivity or efficiency. The article notes the ACCC's confirmation that stevedores are now charging a higher total price per container than at any time since monitoring began, despite spare capacity at major ports. FTA/APSA have consistently warned that voluntary pricing frameworks have failed to restrain these outcomes, leaving transport operators, importers and exporters exposed to unavoidable, non-negotiable cost increases. SUMMARY
International trade publication S&P Global Journal of Commerce echoed the ACCC's conclusion that policy intervention is required, highlighting concerns that terminal access charges and associated fees have reached historic highs. The report emphasised that the regulator's findings strengthen the case for regulatory reform, particularly where market power and infrastructure concentration limit genuine competition. FTA/APSA reiterated that without effective oversight, these charges will continue to distort supply chain costs and weaken Australia's trade competitiveness.
FTA/APSA will continue to engage closely with the ACCC, Federal Government, National Transport Commission (NTC) and industry stakeholders to advocate for meaningful reform — including stronger regulatory oversight — to ensure landside pricing is transparent, proportionate and aligned with genuine investment and performance outcomes, rather than operating as an uncontested revenue mechanism.
Tom Jensen - General Manager Freight Policy & Operations - FTA / APSA
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