Oral Reply by Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport Chee Hong Tat to Parliamentary Question on Singapore Port Capacity

Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Transport in light of industry reports that the global supply chain congestion is easing and normalising

a.     what percentage of its capacity is Singapore’s seaport presently operating at; 

b.     what will the impact of a “normalisation” of global supply chains have on our seaport; and 

c.     whether the Ministry needs to scale up or augment our seaport’s capacity to prepare for the expected change in the shipping landscape over the next year.

Reply by Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport Chee Hong Tat:

1.     The Port of Singapore remained open throughout the pandemic and served as a “catch-up” port for many ships that faced delays in other parts of the world. MPA worked closely with PSA and the unions to open additional berths and yards, and deployed more port workers and equipment to handle surges in container volumes. Our port handled a record high container throughput of 37.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2021.

2.     Our container port is currently operating at about 85% of its maximum handling capacity of 44 million TEUs per annum. There is enough buffer to meet short-term increases in demand from shipping lines. As more berths at Tuas Port are completed, our handling capacity will increase further and provide sufficient capacity to handle future growth in volume.