HPH in $530m deal with Port of Brisbane

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Jan 2008

The world's biggest port developer Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) has entered into a $530 million deal to develop two new container berths at the Port of Brisbane.Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said the two berths would boost container handling at the port by 25 per cent.Under the five-year, $530 million agreement, the first of the berths is due to be operating by 2012, and the second by 2014.Ms Bligh said the project with Hong Kong-based HPH was a boon for the Port of Brisbane, Australia's fastest-growing container port."Growth in ports means growth in exports, and growth in exports means jobs," she told reporters in Brisbane."It also means that the Port of Brisbane will become the most competitive port in Australia, because we will be the only port in Australia that has three operators."Other ports will only have the two."Transport Minister John Mickel said the infrastructure would expand the state's capacity to deliver goods to international markets."It's a significant investment by a leading player which gives us through the Port of Brisbane a gateway to Asia - that's always to be welcomed from a trade point of view," Mr Mickel said.In 2006-07, container trade through the port increased by 14 per cent, exceeding Sydney and Melbourne's ports for the fifth consecutive year.