All the three ports
SP-PSA, TCCT and SITV have reported the sharp falls in the yield which
is much lower than the designed capacity.
“Ports are getting very
cheap because they are unable to find customers. The fee for 50-year
leasing plus the unused land is VND10,000 per square meter only,said
Tuoi, a broker of a real estate trading floor in Tan Thanh District of
Ba Ria – Vung Tau. If you want the land with construction works on it,
you have to pay VND40,000 per square meter,” said Tuoi.
“If you buy definitely,
you just have to pay VND5 billion per hectare. Believe me, it would be a
lucrative deal. When the port gets bustling, you would make a fat
profit,” he added.
When the reporters said
they wanted to lease a large land area to develop a port, Tuoi warned
them that there are too many ports in the locality already, while very
few ships dock at the ports.
A report of the Vietnam
Seaport Association showed that in 2012, the 7 international container
ports in the Cai Mep – Thi Vai deep water port complex area ran at 15-20
percent of the designed capacity only.
Since 2007, a lot of
investors flocked there to pour money into deep water ports with the
estimated total investment capital of US$2 billion. The ports include
SP-PSA, CMIT, SSIT, Gemalink, TCCT, TCIT, SITV and the Cai Mep container
international port.
The “port investment
movement” has triggered a new competition among the deep water port
developers who have been trying to slash the port service fees.
According to the Vietnam Seaport Association, the service fees at the
ports is now just US$32 per container on average, while port developers
need to charge US$88 per container to break even. Especially, some
service providers now charge US$23 only per container.
Both CMIT and SP-PSA, the
joint ventures between the Saigon Port and foreign partners have
reportedly taken loss. According to the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), by the end of December 2011, SP-PSA and CMIT had incurred the loss of VND460 billion.
“With the current low
service fees, SP-PSA and CMIT would still incur loss,” said Nguyen Xuan
Ky, Deputy General Director of CMIT.
An expert has warned that
if the current situation cannot be improved, the material facilities
and infrastructure items at the ports would degrade rapidly. “I am
afraid that the port system would be damaged one day,” he said.
The ports’ developers said they have applied some temporary measures to “survive the difficulties.”
Cao Xuan Dung, Deputy
Director of TCCT, said since August 2012, TCCT has accepted bulk cargo,
general cargo, farm produce and steel as well. Prior to that, since late
2011, SITV and SP-PSA also shifted to receive bulk cargo and serve
tourism cruises as well.
As for Gemalink, which is the US$345 million joint venture of Vietnamese Gemadept, South Korean Samwha and French CMA-CGM, the company’s shareholders’ meeting in 2012 decided to slow down the investment process until the national economy recovers.
Experts have suggested
removing the port system in HCM City out of the inner area to avoid
traffic jam, and to use the golden land areas to develop commerce and
residential quarters. (Viet Nam Net – April 17)
Vian Company Limited
