SINGAPORE: Despite the fact that Singapore cannot leave behind Shanghai port, it has been predicted that Singapore port’s performance will still improve in 2015 and its tonnage will grow by 5.3% in the current year.
Good news is that growth in Singapore will remain positive, buoyed by a return to growth (albeit tentative and uneven) in Europe, and the ongoing recovery in the US.
Headline Industry Data
* The port of Singapore’s gross tonnage will grow by 5.3% in 2015 and will expand an average 5.4% over our medium-term forecast period to 2019.
* The port of Singapore’s box handling set to grow by 3.8% in 2015, with average annual growth set at 3.7% per annum over the medium term.
* The country’s overall trade will grow by 4.5% in real terms in 2015 and will average 4.3% to 2019.
Shippers Plan To Establish Routes From Subic Port: Shipping firms plan to open routes from the Philippine port of Subic to Singapore and Shanghai as more firms shift operations from the congested Manila port to this port in Central Luzon, according to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). Port traffic at the Subic container port is expected to increase 84% year-on-year (y-o-y) in 2014 to 70,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), compared with 38,000TEUs in 2013.
Piracy In South-East Asia To Increase Operational Costs: The risk of heightened operational costs due to an uptick in piracy in South East Asia is a major threat to the shipping industry. The prevalence of hijackings on tankers in 2014 presents a specific risk for the liquid bulk shipping sector.
