In the red: Vietnam’s southern ports
Hanoi: Vietnam’s relatively new swathe of deepwater terminals in the south of the country are struggling to operate profitably.
A report from the Vietnam Seaport Association showed that in 2012, the seven international container ports in the Cai Mep – Thi Vai deep water port complex area ran at 15-20% of the designed capacity only.
The ports include SP-PSA, CMIT, SSIT, Gemalink, TCCT, TCIT, SITV and the Cai Mep container international port, all of which have appeared on the scene since 2007 at a combined cost of more than $2bn.
With business hardly brisk a price war has broken out among the various port operators further driving profitability down.
According to the Vietnam Seaport Association, the service fees at the ports is now just $32 per container on average, while port developers need to charge $88 per container to break even. The association said the lowest charges it had seen were just $23 per box. [18/04/13]