Stevedoring company Patrick, which operates at Sydney’s Port Botany, is being accused of introducing an unfair new levy.
It has introduced an “infrastructure surcharge” of up to $32.55 per box, suggesting it can no longer absorb “excessive” rent increases of more than 140% by Ports NSW, The Australian reports.
However, NSW Ports countered that, saying on a per-square-metre basis the rent it charged Patrick at Port Botany had “dropped slightly” since 2013, when the port was privatised, because the lease is performance based.
Rental agreements remained the same as those that were negotiated by the NSW government before privatisation, The Australian reports.
The debate has caused Road Freight NSW (RFNSW) to suggest Patrick should put a halt on price increases.
“Patrick’s has been caught out. What’s now clear is it’s been playing the blame game, using pretty poor spin to try to justify their new round of cost shifting and they’ve used their market power to target hard working truckies rather than go after international shipping operators,” RFNSW, general manager Simon O’Hara says.
A Patrick spokesman says the new charges are “a consequence of the combined effects of business-wide cost increases that had not previously been passed on”.
“These included increased costs such as underlying land rent increases over several years, government charges, rates, power price rises of more than 50% since January and the cost of ongoing investments at Port Botany.”
Patrick’s infrastructure charges are similar to fees imposed by its main competitor, Dubai’s DP World, The Australian reports.
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