The Client Is Angry! The Terminal Operator Announced A 52.5% Increase in Charges.

Port users have responded angrily to DP World Australia’s planned increase in terminal fees of up to more than 50% at its Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney operations.

Terminal operator DP World issued a notice of intention to levy a terminal usage fee (TAC) of 37.5% and 26.2% on Brisbane's export and import goods, respectively, on January 1 next year. Melbourne's export and import goods will rise by 52.5% and 21.2%, respectively, and Sydney's will rise by 38.8% and 25.5%, respectively.

Ravi Sheshadri, vice president of port and terminal commerce, said: "Capital expenditure on critical equipment, civil expansion projects, and other equipment for our four terminals is expected to exceed A$600 million (US$386 million) between 2023 and 2026 to meet greater land-side demand."

However, Paul Zalai, chairman of the Australian Freight and Trade Alliance, said: "The federal government sat still like a stunned mullet and failed to act on the recommendations of the Productivity Commission (building more docks, increasing competition, improving infrastructure), leaving us no choice but to intensify our criticism of the situation as a whole."

Although there will be substantial growth in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney, imports and exports of TAC in the port of Freemantle have increased by only 5 percent.

Neil Chambers, head of Container Transport Alliance Australia, said this was the result of "government supervision and intervention in Western Australia". He added, "This shows that the east coast is a'melee' with few restrictions on the pricing of landside fees."

In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Graeme Samuel, former chairman of the Australian Competition Commission, accused the federal government of being "too loose" in regulating loading and unloading operations and urged the federal government to control the privatization model that led to "high prices". 

Nina-Christin Buelk, key account manager at CH Robinson Brisbane, said the planned price increase was " daylight robbery" and that Australian fees were already "excessive".

Meanwhile, Australia's DP World is embroiled in a labor dispute with the Maritime Union of Australia, which ordered a series of 24-hour strikes that will last until the third week of November.

At the heart of the controversy is a proposal by terminal operators for a flexible scheduling system, which claims that the system is "better suited to the needs of customers".

According to MUA, the list represents a significant increase in weekend working hours for its members, which is actually equivalent to a 32 percent reduction in wages. In response, the company demanded a 7.4 percent pay rise to reflect the pay rise proposed by rival Patrick earlier this year.

DP World called for an end to the strike before returning to the negotiating table.