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Hutchison ups Karachi capacity to 2.5 million TEU a year with new terminal

HONG KONG's Hutchison Port Holdings expects to open a second container terminal in Karachi by October, increasing Pakistan's capacity 50 per cent, and having it ready to rival transshipment hubs in India.

Karachi's new terminal handles 60 per cent of Pakistan's seaborne cargo, will soon have 16 metres (52.5 feet) alongside ready to handle two million TEU by in 2020, reports Bloomberg.

The terminal was originally planned to open in 2011, but the project was hit by multiple delays, mainly relating to construction of hinterland access roads and dredging.

IHS Media reckons total container throughput in Pakistan is 2.5 million TEU annually with more than one million of that handled by Hutchison's Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT).

KICT in April welcomed the largest vessel to call at the Port of Karachi to date, the 340-metre 8,600-TEU Hyundai Brave.

HPH is the world's largest container terminal operator and accounts for 10 per cent of revenues of its parent CK Hutchison Holdings, but now slowing global trade growth and weak liner profitability are putting pressure on the business.

Throughput at its Singapore-listed arm, HPH Trust, which operates deep-sea and river terminals in southern China, fell seven per cent year on year in the first half, with volumes falling heavily at its Shenzhen-Yantian unit and three Hong Kong-based terminals.

HPH Trust handled 10.79 million TEU from January to June, with Yantian International Container Terminal contributing 5.46 million TEU and the Hong Kong facilities - Hongkong International Terminals, COSCO-HIT and ACT - providing 5.33 million TEU. Revenue for the period slipped six per cent year on year to US$731 million.