S

tate-owned port company Pelindo III is aiming at double-digit growth this year as they connect more points to their major ports Tanjung Perak in East Java and Tanjung Emas in Central Java.

Pelindo III spokesman Edi Priyanto said the firm had recently linked Tanjung Perak Port with three points in East Nusa Tenggara, namely Maumere, Ende and Kalabahi; and Tanjung Emas Port with Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan and Kumai in Central Kalimantan.

'€œDomestic container traffic is increasing healthily in the ports that we manage, thus we are opening more connections. We are optimistic about enjoying double-digit growth by the end of this year,'€ Edi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

With the new points, Tanjung Perak Port was now connected to 32 points across the country and abroad, while Tanjung Emas Port was linked to more than 10 points, he said.

He said demand was growing sharply, particularly in Surabaya, because the economy of East Java grew by 6.9 percent in the past three years, higher than the national growth rate of 6.33 percent.

Export traffic at Tanjung Perak rose 13 percent last year and import traffic grew by 10 percent, he said.

Edi said container traffic at the port reached almost 1 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in the first four months of this year alone.

'€œWe are going to see a huge increase during the upcoming Ramadhan [fasting month],'€ he added.

In Tanjung Emas Port, at Semarang, traffic had reached more than 165,000 TEUs as of Friday, according to Edi.

To accommodate the surging demand, the firm is going to begin operating the first phase of the much-anticipated Teluk Lamong multipurpose terminal in the third quarter of the year.

Edi said the Rp 2.2 trillion (US$224.4 million) project was expected to handle around 200,000 TEUs of container traffic by year-end. '€œIt is going to help spur our business growth because Tanjung Perak is overcrowded. We hope to finish the project early next year so that we can be fully operational at the terminal in 2014,'€ he said.

The company is currently working on the causeway, container yard, dockyard and connecting bridge, all of which covers a 300-hectare site.

First built by the Dutch, the port was designed to accommodate up to 3.5 million tons of cargo annually. However, it handled almost 7 million tons throughout last year.

In addition, Pelindo III is now developing an additional 5.3 hectares at Tanjung Emas Port'€™s container yard and extending the dock from 495 meters to 600 meters.

The extension is aimed at increasing the number of ships and containers the port can accommodate at any one time.

The project, which began last year, is expected to be complete by the end of this year.

The company reaped Rp 3 trillion in revenue in 2012, a 10 percent increase from the previous year. It booked Rp 750 billion in net profits last year, an almost 12 percent rise on 2011.

The firm operates 18 ports in central and eastern parts of Indonesia, including Benoa and Celukan Bawang in Bali, Tanjung Intan in Central Java and Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara.