Supply chain disruptions have caused a change in the way Westports Holdings Bhd handles cargo that goes through Port Klang and being the largest public listed port operator in the country it has allocated some capital to this new development accordingly.

Westports, which services the main entry point for cargo to central Peninsular Malaysia and a key port along the Straits of Malacca, stated that these supply chain disruptions are a common occurrence these days.

This is not just prevalent in Malaysia but globally and has caused a backlog of sorts within the global supply chain. It is caused by the numerous factory or plant shutdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Westports has allocated money to increase its yard capacity accordingly that is the container yard which is the space within the port that has been earmarked for the stacking of containers.

Import, export and transshipment containers are placed within the container yard while awaiting the containers’ next destination.

Typically, Westports yard is not this highly utilized and at the moment it is at 90 percent to 100 percent utilization from 70 percent to 80 percent in a normal year. It is not just happening in Port Klang but around the world.

This has necessitated Westports to build a new container yard to expand this by 19 acres which is anticipated to be complete at the earliest by the end of this year.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE