KUALA LUMPUR (Sep 10): Westports Holdings Bhd is expecting to handle an all-time record of more than 10 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) of containers this year.

Its group managing director Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said this will account for about 80% of Port Klang's overall container volume.

"Westports has been the fastest-growing terminal at Port Klang over the past 25 years.

"We should be able to achieve a double-digit percentage growth rate in 2019 over the previous year based on our current growth momentum," he said in a statement today.

Westports recorded 9.5 million TEUs in the year ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY18), up 5.6% against 9 million in FY17 but lower than the 9.9 million registred in FY16, according to the group's annual report.

Ruben said in today's statement that Westports is currently finalising the layout design for the expansion of its container terminal facilities and also additional wharves for the conventional business segment.

"These expansions would pave the way for significant further growth in the coming decades as we serve our customers, international container shipping alliances and local logistics stakeholders," he said.

Westports, which is involved in container and conventional cargo handling and the provision of other port services, commenced operations in 1994 and was one of the privatisation initiatives under the then and now prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In the past 25 years, Westports has handled a cumulative total of more than 110 million TEUs of container throughput and 250 million tonnes of many types of conventional cargo. By weight, the total shipments handled is more than 1.3 billion tonnes.

Wesports shares were two sen lower at RM4.08 in early afternoon trading, bringing a market capitalisation of RM13.98 billion.