Infrastructure may check Asia energy thirst, growth

Asia’s ageing ports and railways are struggling to cope with fast-growing demand for energy and commodities, risking supply shortages and threatening to curtail economic growth unless massive investments are made. Shipping markets and oil traders have basked in a three-year boom on surging Chinese fuel demand and expanding global trade, but analysts say the delay between expected capacity increases and demand growth could create bottlenecks for consumers.

“These things take time and there’s a lag. We’re back to where we were before the Asian crisis in 1997 when everyone was crying out about a lack of infrastructure,” said Andrew Symon of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. The 1997 Asian financial crisis has left investors wary of long-term projects in the region, while the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates the world must spend over $5 trillion on energy investment by 2030 in Asia and OECD Pacific countries. Analysts picked ports and pipelines, power and gas supply in major consumers such as China and India as well as growing transport demand for coal across the region as risk areas.

Financial Express