KUALA LUMPUR (June 16): Northport (Malaysia) Bhd, an indirect subsidiary of MMC Group Bhd, recorded its highest ever monthly conventional cargo throughput in May, handling 1.02 million tonnes and beating previous record of 968,356 tonnes set in August 2013.

Northport chief executive officer Datuk Azman Shah Mohd Yusof attributed the achievement to a culmination of its transformation efforts in its conventional cargo operations.

"The efforts involved improving our operational efficiency at both our terminals, Northport and Southpoint, in Port Klang including optimisation of storage space and facilities, equipment rationalisation, renegotiation of contract with vendors, process improvement through system automation and digitalisation, data mining and analytics as well as promoting transformation through talent development and behavioural competencies among our employees," he said in a statement today.

Azman added that productivity and efficiency of conventional cargo handling at Northport have significantly improved with the use of state-of-the-art port equipment, information system and technology, as well as improvement in manpower skills, competencies and processes.

"All these measures have successfully helped us sail through choppy waters, amid the operational difficulties, manpower issues and challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic."

For the first five months of 2021, Northport handled a total of 4.1 million tonnes of conventional cargo, up 32% from the same period last year.

"The most significant contributors for the higher throughput were palm oil, grain and iron and steel products, which registered sharp growths of 80%, 61% and 29% respectively against the previous year," said Azman.

The higher conventional cargo volume handled by Northport was mainly contributed by the handling of bigger dry bulk vessels at its terminal. Northport is now able to offer vessel productivity of 10,000 dead weight tonnage per weather working day due to its improvement in processes and productivity.

“Going forward, we will centralise our container operations within one terminal and make space for conventional cargo business to grow in the other terminal. This will further improve our cargo handling productivity and create space for the construction of new facilities which will allow us to offer better productivity,” he added.

Northport’s net profit rose 25% to RM82 million in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2020 (FY20) from RM65 million in FY19, on higher revenue and enhanced operational efficiency. This was the best PAT performance since FY16. Revenue grew by a marginal 1% to RM664 million in FY20 from RM660 million in FY19.

MMC shares closed down one sen or 0.55% at RM1.81 today, bringing a market capitalisation of RM5.51 billion.