VICT expansion to reduce supply chain costs–ICTSI

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

Bruno Porchietto, the chief executive of VICT, said with the expansion will strengthen its position as the “most advanced container terminal at the Port of Melbourne.”

The expansion also enables the terminal to handle two 336-meter vessels simultaneously, including “neo-Panamax vessels of up to 14,000 TEUs, providing shipping lines with the opportunity to lever- age economies of scale and thereby reduce supply chain costs.”

“Once the project is complete, our operations will expand from five quay cranes to eight, adding three new-generation cranes, 10 new automatic stacking cranes [ASC], and 50 percent increased yard capacity,” said Porchietto.

He said the expansion is being delivered in two phases, the first of which is on track for completion in late 2023. The first phase will increase VICT’s capacity by 25 percent to 1.25 million TEUs and include two new quay cranes along with six new ASCs. The third quay crane and the other four ASCs are part of Phase 2, which will be scheduled for completion in line with market demand.

The terminal expansion forms a key part of the Port of Melbourne’s 2050 Port Development Strategy.

Porchietto added that the company has submitted a separate “A$500 million plus” proposal for the expansion of Webb Dock that ICTSI “believes would provide the lowest cost, most efficient and environmentally sustainable long-term solution for additional capacity at the Port of Melbourne.”

The global port operator engaged multiple firms to assess the merits of its proposal.

So far, ICTSI has already invested more than A$700 million in VICT’s operations, “making it one of the largest nongovernment infrastructure investors in Australia.”

In March, the company announced that it will increase its capital expenditures (capex) to $400 million this year from $386.35 million the year prior, as it continues to expand its terminals around the world.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, ICTSI said the amount will be used to expand its terminals in Australia, Mexico, Philippines, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The amount will also be used for the second tranche of concession extension-related expenditures in Madagascar, the yard expansion in Nigeria, the quay expansion in Brazil, the development of a newly acquired terminal in East Java in Indonesia, and equipment acquisitions and upgrades as well as maintenance requirements.