APM Terminals Apapa: cargo volume down by 30 per cent

APM Terminals Apapa, Nigeria’s busiest container terminal might shed its staff strength due the steep drop in imports as global oil prices fell 50 per cent in last one year and reduced government’s revenue.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos on Wednesday by Mr Austine Fischer, General Manager, Communication and Sustainability, APM Terminals, Nigeria,  the effects of global price of oil falling from 114 dollars per barrel in 2014 to less than 50 dollars a barrel in October 2015, had affected the Nigerian economy negatively.

It said this has been having impact on staff requirements at the terminal.

“With cargo volume down 30 per cent compared with a year ago and even after extensive cost-cutting measures, we are unfortunately being forced to reduce our staffing. This is in view of the business realities of the current economic environment’’, the statement said.

According to the statement, APM Terminals’ Head of Human Resource, Ms Bunmi Pratt, said employment by the terminal which began operations after a privatisation initiative in 2006, had risen.

She said employment had risen during the past 10 years from 467 to approximately 1,000 in 2015.

“A sharp drop in demand for consumer goods has been particularly acutely felt at APM Terminals Apapa, which handles over half of all Nigerian imports.

“Respect and compassion for all employees are the very foundation of our business model’’, Pratt said.