Australia: Kingspan Australia has complained that its can’t compete against foreign competitors due to shipping charges at the Port of Melbourne. Charges at the port have led to the state government to consider taking action. Kingspan says it has conducted an international benchmarking survey across ports it uses, including those in the UK, the UAE, China and South Korea. It found that Melbourne was the most expensive and one of the most expensive ports in the world for terminal handling and port service charges.
Exports comprise a third of the output of Kingspan’s plant at Somerton. Further plans to upgrade the plan depend on its export market. The US$30m plant opened in mid-2017.
