Melbourne recognised in world's top container ports
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8 August 2008
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The Port of Melbourne has confirmed its place among the world’s leading container ports reaching top 50 status in international rankings released by Container Management magazine.
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Victorian Premier John Brumby said the achievement was a clear indication of the Port of Melbourne’s contribution to the wider Victorian economy linking exporters and manufacturers with around 300 international markets.
“Melbourne’s top 50 ranking comes after becoming the first port in Australia to reach the 2 million container milestone in 2007,” Mr Brumby said.
“Melbourne has reaffirmed its position as Australia’s premier container port and a key economic asset of the state.”
Mr Brumby said the Port of Melbourne was the hub for Victoria’s freight and logistics industry which generates employment for tens of thousands of Victorians and handles an average of $90 million in exports every day.
“The top 50 ranking shows Melbourne is a world-class operation ahead of Sydney - ranked 70 and Brisbane - ranked 100,” he said.
“Excluding Sydney, the Port of Melbourne handles the same amount of containers as the combined total of all the other ports in Australia including Brisbane, Fremantle and Adelaide.
“Overall, the port handles around 36 per cent of the nation’s container trade – which amounts to around 6500 containers on average each day.
“Importantly, the trade figures reflect a strong Victorian economy despite the impact of drought on containerised exports.”
For the 2007 calendar year, container throughput grew to 2,188,610 containers. As a result, Melbourne's ranking increased from 54 in 2006 to 50 in the 2007 ranking. In the financial year to June 2008, total container throughput grew 7.8 per cent to 2.256 million containers, representing the port’s seventeenth consecutive year of positive container growth.
Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas said the Brumby Government would continue to build infrastructure and make improvements in and around the port precinct.
“Channel deepening is a forward thinking infrastructure project responding directly to the growth in world trade and the deployment of larger vessels to handle that trade. The project is already 20 per cent complete, with just over 6.4 million cubic meters dredged,” Mr Pallas said.
“The Dynon Port Rail Link Project will ensure 24 hour, uninterrupted rail access to the Port, increasing the amount of freight that can be carried directly to the port.
“These projects will help secure Melbourne’s pre-eminent position as the largest and most efficient container port in Australia, and within the top 50 ports of the world.”
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