'No hurry' in choosing stevedore
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday December 15, 2009
SYDNEY PORTS has admitted it is in no hurry to select a third stevedore to compete against Asciano and Dubai Ports at Port Botany.The awarding of the tender for the $1 billion third terminal site is already six months late but the ports corporation said in its annual report that it would allow the process to "unfold in its own time" after having found "things we needed to clarify".Sydney Ports also revealed that its after-tax profits slumped by almost two-fifths for the year to June, blaming the global financial crisis on a "temporary downturn in the volume of trade" at the country's second-largest container port.Grant Gilfillan, the chief executive of Sydney Ports, conceded that choosing an operator for the T3 container terminal had "taken longer than we envisaged".The corporation had intended to appoint a stevedore in July after beginning the tender last year.A spokesman for Sydney Ports yesterday declined to elaborate on what needed to be clarified.The bidders had already faced having to wait until early next year for a decision after Sydney Ports last month sought a second 90-day extension without giving a reason.The bidders include the Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Ports, Australian International Container Terminals (in which Anglo Ports is a cornerstone investor), AP Moller-Maersk of Denmark, and PSA of Singapore.Sydney Ports posted an after-tax profit of $59 million this year, down from $94 million. Total revenue fell 13 per cent to $207 million.Trade fell 5 per cent to 28 million tonnes due partly to the relocation of the motor vehicle terminal to Port Kembla and lower crude oil imports.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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