Johor Port was established in 1977 to prevent Malaysia from becoming over-reliant on Singapore as a trade hub. The first phase of the port came into full operation the middle of that year under state ownership.

This did not solve the whole problem however as freight was frequently redirected to Singapore due to their free trade advantage. To counter this, Johor Port became the first Malaysian port to be gazetted as a free trade zone. Since then, Johor Port has served as an effective and highly economical hinterland port.

The Port was corporatised in tandem with its expansion into dedicated container services in 1993, becoming a fully state-owned enterprise. Not long afterwards in 1995 the port was fully privatised, and in February 1996 the port went public under the name Johor Port Berhad. The Company was listed on the KLSE main board in October of the same year. As a public-listed Company the port has proven to be a very profitable venture whilst continuing to improve its standards of service.

The Port takes its responsibility as an important hinterland port very seriously, but is not content to simply remain so with no scope for expansion. Johor Port Berhad is currently under visionary management with the goal of transforming the establishment into one that can compete with the best ports in the world. Steps have already been taken towards this objective and the fruits of it can be seen in greater throughput and steadily rising profits, as well as increasing recognition from international circles.