CENTRAL & SOUTHERN VIETNAM: PORT DEVELOPMENT
UNDER PRESSURE Central and South Vietnam has been a hotbed of container port activity, with the dominant share of national volumes and terminal investments. AJ Keyes assesses if this will continue
8 Gemalink international Container Terminal has added two more cranes to its fleet to keep pace with demand
The Central and South Vietnam container port region dominates activity in the country, outperforming national growth in recent years. Yet double-digit increases mean that terminal infrastructure must keep pace with higher volumes, a tough challenge in any location. The leading position of Ho Chi Minh in the country is easy to see, based on volume share. Of the sample of port data considered in Figure 1 (which is equivalent to 97 per cent of total country origin-destination traffic), the port handled 88 per cent of all non-transshipment containers in 2021 in the Central and South region of Vietnam, a largely consistent figure over the period. Indeed, Ho Chi Minh has seen its total origin-destination volumes increase from 3.46 million TEU in 2014 to 6.56 million TEU by the end of 2021, reflecting growth of 9.6 per cent per annum. This compares to annual increases of 10.2 per cent for the Central/South region in total and 9.7 per cent per annum for Vietnam as a whole – Ho Chi Minh clearly remains the driving force of not only Central and South Vietnam, but the country as a whole. There is major container port infrastructure in this location. There is the Vietnam International Container Terminal (VICT), in which CMA CGM (47.3 per cent) and Mitsui OSK Lines (15.7 per cent) hold shares in the 700,000TEU per annum facility, while there is also the 500,000TEU per annum Saigon Premier Container Terminal (SPCT), operated by DP World. HO CHI MINH: LONGSTANDING PLANS There are longstanding plans to expand port capacity in Ho Chi Minh, with up to four different sites recently under consideration, as part of the development plans to 2030. A favoured choice since 2020 has been 250ha on a site next to Long Tau River in Binh Khanh Commune, although ship sizes are reportedly to be limited to 3600TEU. A second option, at a 50ha site next to the Long Tau River in Thanh An commune, was dismissed immediately due to its
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proximity adjacent to a nature reserve and the lack of road connections. While there is 150ha available in Long Hoa Commune where ships up to 10,000TEU could call, but, again, this is problematic as it is near the Can Gio Biosphere Reserve. The fourth, and seemingly most sensible option is a 100ha deepwater site near Ong Cho Islet, next to Cai Mep port, which has the capability to receive up to 20,000TEU vessels and can support the continuing shift from feeders via Singapore to deepsea direct calls, a key part of the Ho Chi Minh market. This last option should be regarded as the best location because Cai Mep, which is located approximately 50km south east of the main city area, has been developed on a gradual basis over the course of the past 20 years, after initially starting as a satellite option for the greater Ho Chi Minh city area. There is also now the Tan Cang-Cai Mep International Terminal operated by Mitsui OSK Lines, with capacity of around 1.8 million TEU per annum and the Gemalink International Container Terminal, which is part of the CMA CGM/Terminal Link global portfolio. Unsurprisingly, this second facility is used almost exclusively by CMA CGM, with deepsea vessels of up to 16,000TEU calling on transpacific routes to/from the US West Coast. The arrival of another two largescale ship-to-shore gantry units during 2021 brought the crane fleet to eight on Gemalink’s 800m berthing line – supply was from local manufacturer Doosan Vina, a Vietnamese affiliate of the South Korean Doosan Corporation and an outreach of 25 rows across the vessel is possible. AP Moller Maersk subsidiary, APM Terminals, also has an established facility, located 50km southeast of Hi Chi Minh City. The company retains a 49 per cent stake in Cai Mep International Terminals (CMIT) which offers an annual capacity of almost 1.12 million TEU and can successfully handle vessels with capacities up to 20,000TEU.
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