The operating profit margin of Australia’s container stevedoring industry has jumped by 14 per cent since the start of COVID-19.
The ACCC’s Container Stevedoring Monitoring Report 2021-22, examines the prices, costs, and profits of stevedores at Australia’s international container ports, reveals that the industry operating profit margin of Australia’s five stevedores was 24 per cent in 2021-22.
This figure is up from 10 per cent in 2019-20.
While the ACCC said it “has not yet formed a conclusive view on the drivers behind the recent increases”, it points out that the inability of importers and exporters to easily change to a different shipping service during the pandemic might have weakened price competition.
“If stevedores’ higher profits are due to the recent shocks to the global container freight supply chain, we’d expect their profits to decline over time as shipping and terminal congestion eases,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
“We’ll be closely scrutinising the stevedores’ charges and financial performance in the coming years to see if there are any structural or behavioural factors sustaining higher profits, and whether any further policy or regulatory responses are warranted.”
