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Malaysian ports must improve infrastructure to keep pace with intra-Asia trade

Malaysia needs to accelerate investment in port infrastructure to capitalise on growing intra-Asia trade, delegates at the Logistics Symposium 2026 in Kuala Lumpur heard yesterday. Westports Malaysia CEO Vijaya Kumar Puspowanam said intra-Asia trade continued to expand despite the conflict in the Middle East and ports must be prepared to expand capacity quickly, given their standing as major chokepoints in the supply chain. He said: "We're confident in adding capacity, especially at the port. We have to be willing to take the risk faster and more confidently because ports are the biggest chokepoint. If there's continuous demand, and if we continue hitting trigger points of 80% utilisation, we'll be confidently building capacity, at least for the next 15 years." Westports, which operates nine terminals in Port Klang, is developing Westports 2, which will add eight terminals and double the annual handling capacity, to 28m teu, in the 2040s. Mr Vijaya Kumar also highlighted capacity constraints at Port Klang, claiming even a single maintenance operation could result in significant congestion. He said Westports had lacked land to expand and had approached the government in 2019 to increase capacity. It secured government approval in 2023 to proceed with the Westports 2 expansion. Meanwhile, Kuantan's chief commercial officer, Mazlim Husin, said the port, which can handle up to 500,000 teu annually, was prepared to expand its capacity to meet future demand. The port has two basins, the first operating at full capacity and the second offering a draught of about 60 metres. Mr Mazlim said: "In this second basin, we have capacity to build, in terms of more yachts, more boats and more basins." MTT Shipping and Logistics MD and co-founder Kenny Ooi Lean Hin added that Asean had emerged as one of the major beneficiaries of shifting global trade patterns, driven by supply chain realignments as China diversifies its markets into the region. He said Malaysia must take "a broader view of the logistics ecosystem" to accommodate anticipated growth in cargo volumes, including addressing bottlenecks at ports and in drayage services. He noted that trucking capacity was shrinking due to poor turnaround times, congestion around ports, driver shortages, and other operational challenges, and stressed that capacity building across the logistics sector was essential to support future growth. He asked: "Why are we not having enough capacity to meet the future growth? There's no point having just a port's capacity expanded if the entire ecosystem cannot support it."

China-Europe freighter capacity down nearly 30%

China-to-Europe freighter capacity is down nearly 30% from June due to a reduction in e-commerce imports into Europe, shows new data from Rotate. E-commerce imports into Europe in July dropped 24% in July drop compared to June. This followed the EU's introduction on 1 July of a €3 customs duty on low-value parcels imported from outside the EU. As a result, direct China-Europe freighter capacity immediately fell 10% compared to June levels. Now, China-to-Europe freighter capacity is consistently 28% below June levels and "no clear sign of recovery", said Rotate. Alongside this, according to the latest data from TAC Index, rates on the busiest lanes out of China to Europe have become firmer, even as volumes have been under pressure due to the EU customs duty. Overall utilisation down While has been some rerouting to the transpacific, overall global freighter utilisation is down as most lost capacity has not been redeployed elsewhere, said Rotate. In the case of Boeing 747-400Fs, which typically fly ad hoc, utilisation is down by 13.8%. Freighter capacity declines are concentrated in e-commerce gateways. In Europe, Madrid is down 78%, Budapest is down 58% and Liege is down 35%. Meanwhile, in China, freighter capacity at Ürümqi Tianshan International Airport is down 72%, and 28% at Hong Kong. Despite how the e-commerce market has changed to date, e-commerce shipping may recover within 12 months, suggests Rotate. This has been the case in the US, which ended de minimis treatment for shipments from China and Hong Kong on 2 May 2025 and globally on 29 August 2025, and Brazil, which ended de minimis on 1 August 2024.

MSC - M&A hungry and on the prowl

As Ian Fleming wrote in his 1959 novel Goldfinger: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action." Apply that to the current M&A-prone landscape for shipping lines and... Now What's known: Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is - directly or indirectly; more below - readying to pull the trigger, as "urgency is felt to close deals", including those where 100% ownership must be achieved in various ventures. Kind of... in line with the post-Covid narrative for MSC, and so: sourced from ...