News / Indonesia unveils hub port ambition for Belawan – but is it just a dream?

Credit: Kalmar

The Indonesian government wants mainline operators to call directly at Belawan, the country’s busiest port after Java.

Minister of state-owned enterprises Erick Thohir said last week 95% of containerised exports from Belawan, located in northern Sumatra, were transhipped in Singapore and Port Klang in Malaysia.

Data from state-owned port operator Pelindo shows Belawan handled 550,871 teu last year, and Statistics Indonesia shows China as northern Sumatra’s top export destination, followed by India, Japan and the US.

In the first five months of this ...