TASMANIAN FREIGHT EXPORTERS RELIEVED OVER PORT OF MELBOURNE LEASE DEAL
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Most Tasmanian exporters have been spared a big increase in freight costs after global stevedoring company DP World secured a new deal with the Port of Melbourne.
Under the new 50-year lease DP World's rent will increase to $43 per square metre by 2023.
It falls far short of the $120 increase first flagged by the Port of Melbourne.
Tasmanian Logistics Committee chairman Steve Henty said it was a good deal.
"That's a realistic number and certainly much less than an 800 or 766 per cent increase," he said.
Treasurer Peter Gutwein said the deal boded well for Tasmania's major shipping companies, Toll and SeaRoad, which carry the bulk of containers across Bass Strait and are hoping to secure a new lease before a planned privatisation of the port goes ahead.
But Mr Henty warned it may be harder for the smaller companies to secure as favourable terms.
"The Tasmanian operators don't have that sort of weight and don't have other interests in other ports," he said.
Freight from Tasmanian producers accounts for about a quarter of containers that pass through the Port of Melbourne.
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