Operations at the Port of Melbourne have become the nation’s most expensive, with charges to some truck and rail operators escalating by more than 2000 per cent in two years.
The rapid price hike has led the nation’s competition watchdog to warn that the state government may need to step in to protect consumers from escalating prices.
From January, the cost of shipping cargo to or from Melbourne will rise to $85 per container, if the city’s biggest stevedoring company, DP World, is the company lifting containers on and off ships.
In 2017, the firm charged just $3 per container, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Victorian Ports Minister Luke Donnellan said last week the government would bring forward a review of port regulations as a result of the steep increases.
The ACCC report shows Australia is shipping more containers than ever before to and from its ports, but that profits have collapsed for companies lifting cargo on and off ships.
The dive in profits has led stevedores – the firms that lift cargo – to ramp up their charges on transport companies. They have in turn pushed up prices for exporters and importers.
Read more on The Sydney Morning Herald.
