A new OECD report on "The Competitiveness of Global Port-Cities; The Case of Rotterdam/Amsterdam – The Netherlands" was presented on May 10, 2013. The report was co-authored by OECD's Olaf Merk and PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom, but it draws on the work of a number of other contributors, including PortEconomics members César Ducruet and Wouter Jacobs.

The report has been realized at the request of the Netherlands Ministry of the Economy, Agriculture and Innovation, the city of Rotterdam, the city of Amsterdam and the port authority of Amsterdam. 

The reporter offers an evaluation of the performance of the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, an analysis of the impact of these ports on their territory and an assessment of policies and governance in this field. It examines port performance over the last decades and identifies the principal factors that have contributed to it. The effect of the ports on economic and environmental questions is studied and quantified where possible. The value added of the port clusters of Rotterdam and Amsterdam is calculated and its interlinkages with other economic sectors and regions in the Netherlands delineated. The major policies governing the ports are assessed, along with policies governing transport and economic development, the environment and spatial planning. These include measures instituted by the port authorities, as well as by local, regional and national governments. Governance mechanisms at these different levels are described and analysed. Based on the report's findings, recommendations are proposed with a view to improving port performance and increasing the positive effects of the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam on their territory.

The report - the full reference of which is "Merk, O., Notteboom, T. (2013), «The Competitiveness of Global Port-Cities: the Case of Rotterdam, Amsterdam – the Netherlands», OECD Regional Development Working Papers, 2013/06, OECD Publishing, Paris." - is the sixth in a series of case studies within the OECD Port-Cities Programme, which attempts to identify the impact of ports on their territories and possible policies to increase the positive impacts of ports on their territories. Quite a number of PortEconomics members and associate members have substantially contributed to the other case studies finalized so far include Mersin - Turkey, Seine Axis (Le Havre, Rouen, Paris, Caen) - France, Hamburg - Germany, Helsinki – Finland and Marseille-Fos – France. These studies can be downloaded on the OECD website www.oecd.org/regional/portcities . 

You can freely download the study @PortEconomics: 2013-OECD-The Competitivness of Global Port-Cities: the case of Rotterdam, Amsterdam-The Netherlands, Working Paper

Theo Notteboom, co-director of PortEconomics.eu, gave a keynote presentation during the meeting of the Corporate Development Council of Duisport in Antwerp on 29 April 2013.

The Duisport Group is active in a large array of logistics activities, but is particularly known as the owner and management company of the public ports of Duisburg (via Duisburger Hafen AG), Europe's largest inland port. During his speech, Theo talked about 'Volatility and flexibility in the European port system: how can inland ports benefit?'. He concluded by stating that inland ports are challenged to develop adaptive strategies in order to cope with market consolidation and vertical integration, the need for intensified cost control, the need for increased service levels and new partnerships, sustainability and 'green' management and the need for flexibility.

European port authorities are ready to celebrate another edition of their annual conference and the PortEconomics team is ready to sit central stage, shaping the discusssions of stakeholders on port cooperation and synergies. 

PortEconomics co-director, and newly appointed MedCruise secretary general, Thanos Pallis will orchestrate discussions on marketing and promotion of port regions. Theo Notteboom, PortEconomics co-director, will be among the keynote speakers of the conference providing a thorough insight on the economic outlook for ports. Theo will also moderate a highlight debate of the first conference day between European port CEOs on the 'port development through regional cooperation'.

Michael Dooms, a member of the PortEconomics team will talk about the international strategies of port authorities, with PortEconomics associate member Larissa van der Lugt chairing the session on perpsectives on cooperative synergies.  

Patrick Verhoeven, PortEconomics associate member and ESPO secretary general, will take the floor the second day of the conference introducing the work that has been done on port performance indicators in Europe. Patrick will present a populated database of indicators that has been developed by ESPO and several PortEconomics members in a presentation being in essence the prelude of the next phase of port performance measurement in Europe.

The 2013 ESPO Conference entitled "Port Development through cooperation-Towards new Synergies" will take place in 30-31 May in Varna, Bulgaria. 

With 'cooperation' as overall theme, the conference will discuss ways in which port authorities, operators and stakeholders can foster development and improve performance by working together. Specific issues to be explored include integration of ports in infrastructure corridors, marketing and promotion of port regions as well as intercontinental strategies of port authorities. Continuing a long-standing tradition, the conference will also devote considerable attention to EU policy developments.

If all goes according to schedule, the ESPO 2013 Conference may well be the first industry platform to discuss the European Commission's new proposals on market access and transparency in ports that are expected to be published in the months to come. 

Prior to the conference, a special interest seminar will focus on regional port cooperation in the Black Sea. This will mark the occasion of ESPO's first event held in the 'youngest' region of the EU.

Find all the information about the conference @ The 2013 ESPO Conference website

Last week, ESPO launched its Port Performance Review, which addresses the socio-economic impact of ports, environmental impact, the intermodal connectivity of the EU port system and general market and governance trends in ports across Europe. Port authorities in Europe are kindly invited to contribute before 15 April.

The data collected will feed the second edition of the Port Performance Dashboard, which was initiated in 2012 as part of the European Commission co-funded PPRISM project.

The indicators to be monitored are the outcome of the work done by ESPO in collaboration with five academic partners, led by PortEconomics co-directors Thanos Pallis, Theo Notteboom and Peter de Langen, PortEconomiccs member Micheal Dooms, and Prof. Chris Wooldrige.

ESPO has been periodically running similar types of surveys since 1996 and that has allowed the tracking of progress and positive trends regarding the performance of the sector over time. The reporting on those positive trends gives credibility to the sector and provides evidence of the progress that can be achieved through the European port authorities' commitment to voluntary self-regulation.Individual port responses will be kept strictly confidential. Only aggregated data at European level will be analysed and reported.

The second edition of the Port Performance Dashboard will be presented at the ESPO Annual Conference in Varna on 30 and 31 May and will then be made available to all ports. The environmental component of this review, the ESPO Environmental Review 2013 is addressed separately through the EcoPorts website, the ESPO dedicated environmental website.

 READ MORE ABOUT THE EUROPEAN PORT SECTOR PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD

PortEconomics.eu co-director Theo Notteboom gave an introduction and moderated a session on 'Container shipping lines: short sea and intra-European' during the Coastlink conference held in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on 20 and 21 February 2013.

The entire conference was devoted to the impact of 18,000 TEU vessels on Intra-European Networks. During the short sea panel debate representatives from CMA CGM, the Flemish government and the European Freight and Logistics Leaders Forum presented their views on a wide range of key issues, such as the possibilities for ferries to function as a back-up for tfeeder services, existing and future markets for feeder and shortsea traffic in Europe, the future feeder vessel size, consolidation in the short sea market, changing port of call patterns in the short sea markets and the impact of low sulphur rules in the Emission Control Areas on the shortsea and feeder markets. The transition from a port-to-port to a door-to-door approach was highlighted as one of the key challenges to shortsea operators and ports.

The conference was organized by Coastlink and MBZ (the port authority of Zeebrugge). Coastlink is an association of companies committed to expanding the role shortsea shipping plays in transporting containers around Europe. Members include deepsea and shortsea shipping companies, intermodal operators, shipbrokers, ports and stevedores, forwarding and logistics specialists and shippers. The organisation is chaired by Gavin Roser, who is also the Secretary General of the European Freight and Logistics Leaders Forum.

PortEconomics member Jean-Paul Rodrigue was interviewed by the Atlantic Cities website (www.atlanticcities.com) about cruise ports, an interview based on a recent research conducted with PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom on the "geography of cruises". 

When we think of cruises, most of us consider the luxury ships themselves as the attraction — not the ports they visit. Jean-Paul and Theo studied cruise itineraries from all over the world and found that companies pay a great deal of attention to port selection as a means of distinguishing themselves. Focusing on the Caribbean and Mediterranean markets, the scholars argue that itinerary is what's really for sale from the cruise industry. As a result, relevant ports cities are competing to become part of a line's unique regional and cultural package of places.

You might read the interview to Eric Jaffe @ Why cruises start and stop where they do

PortEconomics co-directors Peter de Langen, Theo Notteboom and Thanos Pallis are the authors of the first PortEconomics editorial published in the Port Technology International Magazine, marking the inauguration of the PortEconomics and Port Technology International 'partnership in publishing'.

In their editorial entitled "The Quality of Port Infrastructure ranking: Some insights" Peter, Theo and Thanos discuss the port infrastructure rankings provided by the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) of the World Economic Forum (WEF). In sports, and increasingly in business, rankings abound.

Today, we have rankings of the best places to live, the most knowledge intensive regions of the world and the most competitive economies. In the latter case, countries are compared across economic performance criteria. One of the most influential is the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The 2012-2013 WEF ranking appeared last September. Switzerland is on top, moving ahead of Singapore. The WEF ranking consists of over 100 ranked items, classified in 12 pillars. For each pillar, some rankings are survey based, while others are based on actual data.

Through the provision of cost-efficient, reliable and frequent connections to overseas and inland markets seaports play an essential role in facilitating trade and in increasing the competitiveness of a nation or region. It is no surprise that Pillar 2 of the GCI dealing with infrastructure includes a component on the 'Quality of Port Infrastructure'.

You can freely download the editorial as Published @PortEconomics: PTI56-2012-Quality of port infrastructure ranking-De Langen et.al

Partners in Publishing

PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom, in cooperation with Darren Fraser presented their latest research on gateway and hinterland dynamics in seaports, examining the case of the southern african container port system, during the annual conference of the International Association of Maritime Economists - IAME 2012, that was held in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Southern African container port system features a diverse range of different port types and sizes from five African countries. Collectively, ports in this region constituted a significant 40% market share of all container traffic through the African continent in 2005. One of the busiest container ports on the continent, the Port of Durban is located within the Southern African region. The region has seen strong port development in the last 15 years with new ports entering the market or existing ports expanding their supply. Competitive dynamics in the Southern African container port system are however not well researched.

Building further upon economic literature and empirical studies on port competition, competitiveness and on port geography literature on the development of port systems, this study provides an academically-sound and policy-relevant assessment of the development paths of the Southern African container port system. The study includes a detailed container traffic analysis, applying the net shift model, for major container terminals in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius from 1985 to 2010 and also the discloses the level of concentration or deconcentration. Concentration/ deconcentration factors applicable to the port system and its respective ranges are identified together with a port range developmental path (linear or non-linear) for each. As such, the study complements earlier empirical research on European, North American and Asian port systems and thus contributes to advancing and broadening the methodological and empirical discussion on port system development.

You might read - and freely download - the full study @PortEconomics:

The study:  2012-IAME-Gateway and hinterlands dynamics-Fraser_Notteboom

The annual conference of the International Association of Marime Economists - IAME 2012, held in Taipei, Taiwan, provided the PortEconomics team the opportunity to present 16 different port or port related studies that progressed over the course of the most resent months - read more & reach the studies: PortEconomics team@IAME2012

PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom in cooperation with Jasmine Siu Lee Lam, presented their latest research on the green port toolbox: a comparison of port management tools used by leading ports in Asia and Europe, during the annual conference of the International Association of Maritime Economists - IAME 2012, that was held in Taipei, Taiwan.

The study attempts to fill the literature gap and the much desired industry needs by researching on green port development from the policy and management perspective. This study aims to investigate the port management tools that port/public authorities have at their disposal and then to analyze to what extent the tools are used to enforce or encourage green port development at various activities of port operations and development. An analysis conducted based on two axes: on one hand the range of tools available to port authorities (i.e. pricing, monitoring and measuring, as well as market access control and environmental standard regulation) and on the other hand the functional activities in ports (i.e. ships traffic, cargo handling and storage operations, intermodal connection, industrial activities and port expansion). The situations in the leading ports in Asia and Europe, namely Singapore, Shanghai, Antwerp and Rotterdam are studied and compared. Findings show that the ports are particularly mature in exercising environmental standard regulations which reveals that the enforcement approach is more prevalent. The most focused functional activity is ship traffic which reflects that the ports are driven by the advisory from the International Maritime Organisation. The respective port authorities in Antwerp and Rotterdam have a higher level of influence on devising green port policy in comparison to the two Asian ports due to a relatively open geopolitical culture in Western Europe. The analytical framework and policies investigated in the paper would be a useful toolbox for green port development.

You might read - and freely download - the full study @PortEconomics:

The study:  2012-IAME-The green port toolbox-Lam_Notteboom

The annual conference of the International Association of Marime Economists - IAME 2012, held in Taipei, Taiwan, provided the PortEconomics team the opportunity to present 16 different port or port related studies that progressed over the course of the most resent months - read more & reach the studies: PortEconomics team@IAME2012

Containers lines adjust their business model to cope with market and revenue volatility, and portEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom, in cooperation with Ahmed Mowafy Fakhr-Eldin, presented a study on how they do so during the annual conference of the International Association of Maritime Economists - IAME 2012, that was held in Taipei, Taiwan.

In recent decades, container trade has been one of the fastest growing segments of the shipping industry. In 2009 global container traffic faced a significant drop leading to difficult times for container carriers. Container freight contracts were ripped up and shippers walked away from their obligations asking for new terms and reduced freight rates. A renewed trade growth combined with measures taken by carriers such as cutting down capacity on some major trade lanes led to a healthy growth and strong profits in 2010. Carriers' attitude combined with stalling economic growth put a renewed pressure on freight rates in early 2011. The observed freight rate volatility witnessed over the last three years along with the impracticality of the existing freight agreements system have highlighted the need for new measures to face such volatility.

The aim of the study conducted by Theo and Ahmed is to examine carriers' business model, their behavior and practices and the relation to freight rate volatility along with the measures taken by carriers to face such volatility. The paper focus on carriers' strategies and the new instruments that emerged recently to mitigate business risks such as the transition from fixed to index-linked contracts and the emergence of container freight derivatives.

You might read - and freely download - the full study @PortEconomics: 2012-IAME-Container lines and business model-Fakhr-Eldin_Notteboom

The annual conference of the International Association of Marime Economists - IAME 2012, held in Taipei, Taiwan, provided the PortEconomics team the opportunity to present 16 different port or port related studies that progressed over the course of the most resent months - read more & reach the studies: PortEconomics team@IAME2012