Step Forward Projects for Continued Economic Growth

The US recession has sent a ripple effect through economies around the world. In Thailand, the import-export industry experienced large economic contractions in the first half of the year, especially container volume that passed through LCP that registered a drop of 14.33%. Statistics for the last three quarters of the fiscal year 2009 showed a 13.72% downturn in container volume to 3.372 million TEUs, and a 31.0% drop in the number of automobiles to 440,967 units. For the year 2009, container volume transported via the port is estimated at 4.535 million TEUs, down from 5.240 million TEUs in 2008.

Nonetheless, container volume handled through LCP is expected to bounce back in the next few years, particularly in the second quarter of the fiscal year 2010. Hence, meeting the demands in economic growth will inevitably require port infrastructure development and transportation system efficiency upgrading.

LCP’s capabilities to ensure economic recovery will depend on port investments to support the expansion of the Rail Hub or Rail Depot and the improvement of rail operations and infrastructure to meet the growth in container traffic. The modal imbalance at the moment is that railway transport carries only 0.2 million TEUs compared to 5 million TEUs that pass through LCP each year. Since the maximum capacity of the containerized freight train is 0.8 million TEUs, professionally managing and operating this transport link by LCP will redound to cost reduction measures as well as significantly enhance the port’s competitiveness levels. Another contributing factor in increasing port productivity is the reduction of waiting time of inbound trucks at the gates as well as addressing port congestion problems.

In addition, Thailand’s transportation infrastructure is arguably the best in Asia. Hence, it is necessary to fully support and cooperate in working towards concrete advancement in infrastructure connections like rail-port linkages and logistics network integration. Meanwhile, the imminent completion of the e-Port project will strengthen the competitiveness of Thai enterprises and the continued trade prosperity of the country’s exports.