Freight & Trade Alliance, the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) and the Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) wrote last week to the Hon. Melissa Horne - Victorian Minister for Ports and Freight following the DP World Australia (DPWA) announcement of further massive increases in their Infrastructure Surcharges nationally – effective 1 January 2020.
Th correspondence highlighted the following:- the DPWA notice was on the eve of the ACCC Container Stevedoring Monitoring Report 2018-19 - the report identifies that Australian container stevedores are losing revenue from lower container stevedoring rates in shipping line contracts - remarkably, in a depressed economic environment, stevedores have still managed to increase average revenue per container lift for the first time in seven years - according to the ACCC, this is attributable to the continuing a cycle of increases in stevedore administered Infrastructure Surcharges;
- while this charging regime serves to provide stevedores with a healthy bottom line profit, it has significantly increased the commercial strain on logistics service providers who must carry the cost of the charges in the first instance and ultimately pass costs onto exporters and importers - low margin commodity exporters are particularly hardest hit at a time also when drought and other supply chain pressures are impacting export growth generally; and
- in this context, we await with keen interest the findings from the Port Pricing and Access Review commissioned by the Victorian Government - there is a real sense of urgency about the need to address these unfettered and unregulated price increases and we urged the Minister to ensure that our peak industry alliance has the opportunity for input into her response to the review.
To view the full correspondence please click HERE
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT
FTA / APSA urge members to supply evidence of commercial impacts of stevedore Infrastructure Surcharges, particularly as it impacts our exporters, local manufacturers and farmers.
Please send details direct to me at pzalai@FTAlliance.com.au
Paul Zalai - Director and Co-Founder, FTA / Secretariat, APSA |
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National Summary of Infrastructure Surcharges
An updated summary of all Infrastructure Surcharges nationally is now available HERE
Data collated courtesy of the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA), Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Container Transport Alliance Australia CTAA)
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FTA / APSA / CTAA - update on national Infrastructure Surcharge advocacy |
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Sydney – David Scott (FTA Member Representative Sea Freight / Commercial Freight & Logistics) and I met yesterday (5 November 2019) with Peter Achterstraat AM (NSW Productivity Commissioner) and his senior advisors - we thank the Hon. Andrew Constance (Minister for Transport and Roads and Member for Bega) for setting up this engagement following our meeting with him on 12 August 2019.
Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) will be supporting the NSW Productivity Commissioner on agreed action items including collation of commercail impacts generated by Infrastructure Surcharges. Case study provided by Fletcher International Exports - refer HERE – for further detail contact pzalai@FTAlliance.com.au
Melbourne - as outlined in last weeks' member notice, the Victorian government commissioned a Port Pricing and Access Review led by Deloitte Access – a summary of the formal submission prepared by Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) is available HERE.
FTA/APSA and the Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) have reached out to Deloitte, Freight Victoria and the Minister for Ports and Freight for an update on the release of recommendations and the Victorian government responses - refer HERE. Sean Richards (APSA Chair and EM Visy Logistics) and I are scheduled to meet Roma Britnell MP (Shadow Minister for Ports and Freight and Member for Warrnambool) in Melbourne on 12 November 2019 to elaborate on matters raised in the FTA / APSA submission .– for further detail contact pzalai@FTAlliance.com.au
Fremantle – FTA / APSA provided a submission to Fremantle Ports on 27 Sept 2019 warning of the escalating threat of Infrastructure Surcharge increases to Western Australian operations and seeking intervention via the Ports' stevedoring leasing renewal arrangements - refer HERE. As outlined in Monday's notice from DP World Australia, these concerns have clearly come to reality with their Infrastructure Surcharge (now referred to as "Terminal Access Charge") scheduled to increase from $8.22 (excl GST) to $45 (excl GST) per container effective 1 January 2019 - refer HERE
We are delighted to see the strong and immediate response from the Fremantle Ports CEO, Chris Leatt-Hayter
"DP World's action is disappointing, given the substantial effort both parties have made to reach agreement on the new lease arrangements over the past months. It also confirms Fremantle Ports' concerns about the level of future infrastructure surcharges that may eventuate if no agreed approach is in place under the new lease.Fremantle Ports is currently considering its position with regard to longer-term lease arrangements at Fremantle. It will continue to strive for fair and reasonable commercial arrangements that are in the interests of all port stakeholders."
The full statement from the Fremantle Ports' CEO titled INFRASTRUCTURE SURCHARGES - DP WORLD FREMANTLE CONTAINER TERMINAL is available HERE . John Park (Head of Business Operations, FTA / APSA) met with Chris last week and will keep members up to date with developments - for further detail contact jpark@FTAlliance.com.au
National - as outlined in last weeks' notices, we have maintained our engagement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and delighted that they have met their commitment to support for our advocacy activity on this matter.
The Container stevedoring monitoring report 2018-19 released last week (6 November 2019) reported higher Infrastructure Surcharges imposed on trucks and rail operators at ports helped the container stevedoring industry increase average revenue per container lift for the first time in seven years,
The full report is available HERE and the accompanying ACCC Media Release titled Stevedore's revenue up due to higher infrastructure charges is available HERE |
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