Melbourne port to raise port fees from July
Australia's Melbourne port will raise port fees and charges from 1 July as part of its cost recovery after completing a channel deepening project, Seatrade Asia online reports. Under Port of Melbourne Corporation's (PoMC) new tariff schedule, wharfage charges for twenty-foot containers will increase by A$1.70 to A$40.10 including goods and services tax (GST), while empty container charges will increase by A$0.40 to A$10.00 plus GST. The infrastructure levy will increase by A$1 to A$34.10 plus GST with direct Bass Strait movements retaining their exemption. “Foremost amongst our considerations is the need to adequately and prudently fund port infrastructure against the background of rising engineering costs to develop and maintain a level of service our customers rightly expect,” said Stephen Bradford, chief executive officer of PoMC. “The modest fee increases are generally in the range of 3.0% to 4.5% with minor reductions in concessionary rates which have been previously flagged with industry through consultation,” he said.
