It is a commercial reality that a fast-growing port like Melbourne, requiring regular upgrades and encumbered with high operating costs principally due to regulation and rigid union-backed labour practices, will see the port and its tenants continue to support revenue generating measures such as port infrastructure and wharfage charges. Bottom line, these are necessary to support annual increases in operational expenses and capital expenditure. In March container terminal operator DP World (DPW) implemented another hike in its infrastructure surcharge. This charge is paid by the landside customers such as freight companies. This latest increase generated much negative publicity, coming as the COVID-19 crisis was rapidly unfolding. DPW has regularly hiked these charges and its insistence on doing so in the COVID-19 era, even when drawing widespread criticism, shows that it believes its actions in this respect are reasonable and justified. DPW’s timing may have been “tone-deaf”, as described by one industry participant, but the fact remains its competitors Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) and Patricks have in the recent past also increased these charges.
展开▼
