Commonwealth of Australia 1998 ISBN 0 646 33551 0 This work is subject to copyright. Apart from ...

303 Pages·1998·1.17 MB·English

ª Commonwealth of Australia 1998
ISBN 0 646 33551 0
This work is subject to copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the
Copyright Act 1968, the work may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or
training purposes, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source.
Reproduction for commercial usage or sale requires prior written permission
from AusInfo. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should
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An appropriate citation for this paper is:
Productivity Commission 1998, International Benchmarking of the Australian
Waterfront, Research Report, AusInfo, Canberra, April.
Information about the Productivity Commission and its current work program can
be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.pc.gov.au
FOREWORD
Performance benchmarking of key infrastructure industries such as the
waterfront, where government has played an important role, provides essential
information by which to judge whether services central to the well being of
Australians are being supplied efficiently.
This benchmarking study is part of a continuing program of research into the
performance of economic infrastructure industries, which was commenced by
the Bureau of Industry Economics. It is the third Waterfront Benchmarking
report in the cycle.
The study builds on the two previous waterfront studies by providing new
insights into timeliness, reliability and the economic consequences of failure to
match levels of performance achieved overseas. It is based on data collected
throughout 1997.
The study also provides a broad context for the Productivity Commission’s
companion study on Work Arrangements in Container Stevedoring, which
examines selected work arrangements and assesses their implications for the
performance of container stevedoring workplaces.
The study was prepared in the Economic Infrastructure Branch of the
Commission. It could not have been undertaken without the active co-operation
of many participants in the sector, who either assisted the Commission directly
or provided detailed information to its consultant, Thompson Clarke Shipping.
We are grateful to all those who took part.
The Commission welcomes further feedback on both reports, consistent with its
objective to improve the information base on key issues affecting Australia’s
economic performance and community living standards.
Gary Banks
Acting Chairman
April 1998
iii
CONTENTS
Page
Foreword iii
Abbreviations ix
Overview xi
Chapters
1 About this study 1
1.1 Role of waterfront benchmarking 1
1.2 Approach 2
1.3 Report structure 10
2 The waterfront 13
2.1 Australia’s international sea trade 13
2.2 Industry participants 22
2.3 Ports 27
2.4 Charges 29
3 Government and port management practices 39
3.1 Government involvement 39
3.2 Port management practices and policies 45
4 Marine services 49
4.1 Pilotage 49
4.2 Towage 58
4.3 Mooring and unmooring 67
Attachment 4A - Data 73
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INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKING OF THE AUSTRALIAN WATERFRONT
5 Port and maritime infrastructure 77
5.1 Government charges 78
5.2 Port authority charges 84
5.3 Combined port and maritime infrastructure and marine
services charges 93
Attachment 5A - Data 99
6 Stevedoring — containers 105
6.1 Container stevedoring and terminal operations 105
6.2 Waterfront charges for container services 107
6.3 Container terminal productivity 119
6.4 Timeliness and reliability of container operations 133
6.5 Summing up 138
6.5 Attachment 6A — Net cranes rates at Australian ports between
December 1989 and June 1997 140
7 Stevedoring — break-bulk cargo 141
7.1 Break-bulk operations 141
7.2 Benchmarking break-bulk stevedoring 143
7.3 Performance 145
8 Stevedoring — bulk 151
8.1 Wheat 152
8.2 Fertiliser 155
9 Stevedoring — cruise ships 165
9.1 Baggage handling 166
9.2 Stevedoring supplies 168
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
10 Port–land interface 171
10.1 Stevedoring operations 172
10.2 Land-side operations 181
10.3 Logistical co-ordination 188
Attachment 10A - Customs 191
Attachment 10B - Quarantine inspection 195
11 Impact of waterfront service performance on 199
importers and exporters
11.1 Impacts of service problems 201
11.2 Direct costs 202
11.3 Indirect costs 206
11.4 Implications 211
Appendices
A Participation in the study 213
B Data collection methodology 217
C Government involvement 223
D Port management practices and policies 255
Glossary 277
References 283
vii
ABBREVIATIONS
ABARE Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics
ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics
ACS Australian Customs Service
AQIS Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service
AWB Australian Wheat Board
BCA Business Council of Australia
BHC Bulk Handling Corporation
BHP Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd
BIE Bureau of Industry Economics
BSR Basic Service Rate
BTCE Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics
CBU Completely Built Up
CCC Container Clearance Charge
CIF cost, insurance,freight
CTAL Container Terminals Australia Limited
DoT Department of Transport
EBA Enterprise Bargaining Agreement
ECN Export Clearance Number
EDI Electronic Data Interchange
ERA Export Receival Advice
FCAI Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries
FCL Full Container Load
FOB free on board
GBE Government Business Enterprise
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GRT Gross Registered Tonnage
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INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKING OF THE AUSTRALIAN WATERFRONT
IC Industry Commission
IDO Import Delivery Order
ISC Inter-State Commission
LCL Less than a Full Container Load
NRT Net Registered Tonnage
PCC Pure Car Carrier
PPA Port Pricing Additional
PSA Prices Surveillance Authority
PSC Port Services Charge
QSC Queensland Sugar Corporation
SCA Sea Cargo Automation
SIA Stevedoring Industry Award
TEU Twenty foot equivalent unit
THC Terminal Handling Charge
VANs Value Added Networks
VBS Vehicle Booking System
WIRA Waterfront Industry Reform Authority
x
OVERVIEW
Waterfront industries are The waterfront is a key link in the distribution
critical to Australia’s of traded goods. The efficiency of the
economic performance. waterfront affects the competitiveness of
Australia’s trade and the welfare of all
Australians.
In value terms, approximately 70 per cent of
imports and 78 per cent of exports were
transported by sea in 1995–96. These trade
flows amounted close to $60 billion.
Key findings
This international benchmarking study shows Australia to be under-performing on the
waterfront.
Container stevedoring charges were higher than overseas, ship loading and unloading
were slower, and services were less reliable.
Other areas of traditional break-bulk and bulk stevedoring examined also performed
relatively poorly.
Cruise ship baggage handling charges in Sydney were 5 times those in Auckland. The
cost of provedoring was 4 times that in Miami.
Marine services and port infrastructure charges were 2 to 3 times greater in Australia,
not all of which reflects pricing policies to recover costs.
The Port-land interface is not operating effectively. There is a need for better co-
ordination throughout the transport chain.
Poor performance increases costs to exporters, importers and other shippers both directly
and indirectly.
Overall, there is significant scope for improvement. In particular, higher stevedoring
productivity would improve timeliness and reliability. However, incentives to improve
performance are muted.
xi
INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKING OF THE AUSTRALIAN WATERFRONT
Some basic terms
Shipper The consignor or consignee of sea cargo.
‘Blue water’ freight rate Charge by shipping line for carriage of
cargo and lifting it on and off the ship.
Bulk cargo Cargo (such as coal, ore, sand or oil) that is
carried loose and takes up the shape of the
ship’s hold.
Break-bulk cargo Non-bulk cargo that is not containerised.
Conservancy dues Charges for services such as navigation
aids, dredging and channel markings.
Pilotage Navigation of a ship within ports and their
approaches by a licensed pilot.
Towage Tug operations assisting the movement of
ships.
Stevedoring The process of loading and unloading
ships.
Provedoring Supplying ships’ crew and passenger
provisions.
Net crane rate Hourly rate at which a single crane moves
containers while a ship is actually being
worked (net lifts per hour).
Performance is compared and This study provides information by which the
gaps identified. performance of Australian ports can be
compared — both with overseas ports and with
each other. The aim is to identify and quantify
the extent of any performance deficiencies and
some of their economic effects by evaluating
the scope for improvement. The study
approach and scope are outlined in Box 1.
Policy prescriptions to redress performance
concerns are beyond the scope of this
informational study.
xii
OVERVIEW
Box 1 Study approach and scope
The stevedoring of containers was benchmarked at the following ports:
• Australia: Adelaide, Brisbane, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney-Port Botany;
• New Zealand: Auckland and Lyttelton;
• Asia: Port Klang, Singapore, Nagoya and Pusan;
• North America: Philadelphia and Los Angeles; and
• Europe: Tilbury and Hamburg.
The general approach was to measure actual charges and service performance for
individual ships engaged in Australian liner shipping trades. This approach differed from
that adopted in the benchmarking studies conducted by the Bureau of Industry Economics
in two respects: the use of actual rather than estimated data, and like-with-like
comparisons using a ship typical of those operating in each trade.
The break-bulk stevedoring of passenger motor vehicles, pulp and newsprint paper, timber
and hot-rolled steel coil was benchmarked. The ports covered across this range of
commodities were:
• Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Fremantle, Port Kembla and
Devonport;
• Europe: Amsterdam, Barking, Grangemouth and Hull;
• North America: Philadelphia;
• New Zealand: Auckland and Tauranga; and
• South Africa: Durban.
The cost of stevedoring bulk grain loading and bulk fertiliser unloading was examined in
the following ports:
Grain
• Australia: Average across all grain ports; and
• North America: New Orleans, Portland and Prince Rupert
Fertiliser
• Australia: Adelaide, Albany, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Kwinana, Newcastle,
Townsville; and
• New Zealand: Lyttelton, Napier, Dunedin.
Pilotage, towage and mooring charges (marine charges) along with government and port
authority charges for port infrastructure, were examined for each of the ports included in
the benchmarking of container and bulk shipping stevedoring.
Cruise shipping baggage handling and provedoring charges were also benchmarked
across a range of major cruise ports in Australia and overseas.
xiii