Port of Brisbane’s Record Performance Continues
20 December 2006
The 2005/2006 financial year has been another year of impressive growth in both trade and infrastructure for the Port of Brisbane Corporation, which returned a dividend of $35.8 million to its shareholders, an increase of 28% from 2004/2005.
Releasing the Corporation’s end-of-year results today, Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Coleman, said these funds would be used by the State to provide critical infrastructure and services to the people of Queensland. Revenue increased by 32.8% to $282 million, with an operating profit after tax of $120 million.
He said the port had set a new trade record of 26.7 million tones in 2005/2006, an increase of 736,096 tonnes (2.8%) from the previous year.
“Brisbane’s export trade has grown by 5.1% (574,662 tonnes) to reach 11.8 million tonnes, while imports have grown by 1.1% (161,434 tonnes) to reach 14.9 million tonnes for the period,” Mr Coleman said.
Container trade also remained strong with the Port of Brisbane continuing to maintain its position as Australia’s fastest-growing container port (in percentage terms), with compounding container trade growth in excess of 11% per annum over the past five years (2001/02–2005/06).
Export of full containers increased by 8.3% (18,927 teus ) to 246,049 teus with 9.9% growth (29,023 teus) in full import containers to 321,397 teus. Total container trade (including empty containers) reached 766,300 teus, up 40,155 teus or 5.5% from 2004/2005.
“Forecasts conducted by Maunsell Australia indicate that growth at the Port of Brisbane is set to continue at an average growth rate of between 7% and 9% during the next 20 years,” Mr Coleman said.
To keep pace with this growth in containerised cargo, the Corporation has embarked on a number of major infrastructure developments.
Construction of an additional container wharf has commenced and is scheduled for completion in early 2008. Plans for a further two container berths are also underway.
In August 2005 the Corporation completed a 4.5km seawall to enable the reclamation of additional land for port-related purposes at the mouth of the Brisbane River.
“This 230ha area will be progressively reclaimed, as demand dictates, to ensure that Brisbane’s wharves and supporting infrastructure meet future growth, while ensuring that dredged-material-handling requirements are provided for to enable channel depths to be maintained,” Mr Coleman said.
Commenting on the growth in bulk trades, he said that regional demand for coal and other energy-based commodities, which have been driven largely by China’s strong economic growth, caused Brisbane’s coal exports to grow by 12.2% (452,247 tonnes) to a record 4.1 million tones during the period.
“Meat exports also showed record growth, increasing by 3.6% (24,097 tonnes) to 702,480 tonnes, reflecting the continued demand for Australian beef in Asian markets, particularly Japan, as a consequence of BSE (Mad Cow Disease) outbreaks in the United States.”
Mr Coleman said that scheduled infrastructure upgrades to the Caltex refinery at Lytton had disrupted the flow of crude oil imports into Brisbane during the year, resulting in a slight drop in trade.
“Imports of crude oil fell by 3.5% (269,673 tonnes) to 7.4 million tonnes. However as a consequence, refined oil and gas imports reached a record 1.1 million tonnes – up 17.5% (163,115 tonnes) compared to the previous year,” he said.
The sustained strength of South East Queensland’s housing and building industries was reflected in a 29.2% (129,477 tonnes) rise in iron and steel imports, reaching a record 573,534 tonnes. Imports of cement and other building-related products were also up, increasing by 1% (16,916 tonnes) to 1.66 million tonnes and 1.6% (6,764 tonnes) to 430,166 tonnes respectively.
Retail imports remained strong, increasing by 8% (82,869 tonnes) to reach a record 1.1 million tonnes.
Continued poor growing conditions resulted in a decline in fertiliser and chemical imports (down 52,846 tonnes or 11.7% to 397,421 tonnes) and a notable drop in cereal exports, down 11.7% or 111,163 tonnes to 836,210 tonnes.
Mr Coleman said that motor vehicle imports recorded a slight decrease of 2.2%, but this was on the back of an exceptional rise of 13.2% last year.
“We expect motor-vehicle trade through the Port of Brisbane to continue to grow strongly.
“The relocation of motor-vehicle operations from Hamilton to the Port of Brisbane – one of the largest infrastructure and logistics projects that we have ever undertaken – was completed on time and with no shipping delays,” he said.
“Our 28ha, $17million vehicle processing facility began operating in May and we are soon to commence a 50m expansion of the port’s grain berth to provide increased capacity to off load vehicles as demand dictates.
“We have also completed the design of a new 210m-long general-purpose berth and terminal area at the port and will continue to invest in infrastructure to ensure that our resources meet growing demand,” Mr Coleman said.
Mr Coleman said that 2006-2007 would be another significant year in the history of the Port of Brisbane, with strong growth in container traffic, and similar trends in general cargo, driving the port’s ongoing expansion.
