PSA suffers major setbacks

From: "icon"
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:47:04 +0800
Local: Sat, Nov 28 2009 8:47 am
Subject: Re: PSA suffers major setbacks

The usual business cycle, there will be ups and downs. When they are up,
will those hardcore critcs sing praises?

"truth" wrote in message

> Singapore, the world's largest container port by throughput, looks likely
> to suffer a bigger fall in traffic than many other ports this year, in
> spite of a slight uptick in traffic in provisional figures for October.

> The port suffered a 16.5 per cent fall in throughput to 21,255,900
> twenty-foot equivalent units in the 10 months to the end of October (a TEU
> is a standard container).

> As a global transshipment hub for traffic between Asia, Europe and the US
> west coast, Singapore is highly vulnerable to a decline in world trade on
> the scale caused by the global financial crisis - 85 per cent of the
> port's container throughput is transshipment traffic.

> The fall in Singapore volumes is much steeper than the predicted 10.3 per
> cent drop in global traffic this year, marking a serious reverse for PSA,
> which runs five of the port's six container terminals and accounts for
> about 97 per cent of its container throughput.

> PSA, which also runs ports in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and
> Latin America, has responded with vigorous cost cutting, including the
> second round of pay cuts for senior executives in six years.

> PSA is understood to have offered discounts to some shipping lines using
> its Singapore terminals. It has also extended credit terms for many lines,
> typically from 30 to 60 days.

> In addition to these short-term measures, the company has delayed some
> terminal projects, in line with a warning by Eddie Teh, the group chief
> executive, earlier this year that "all measures are being taken to
> conserve cash in an illiquid credit market".

> Most of the affected projects appear to be in PSA's international
> operations rather than in Singapore. However, completion of the second
> phase of the Pasir Panjang terminal is understood to have been delayed.