Almost from its inception, there has been a clear upward trend in the disruptive force of the container during its use. However, a relative decrease in container movement has been seen in recent years although the explanation of which goes beyond disturbances in the world economy. PortEconomics member Ricardo Sanchez along with Eliana Barleta notice that the inter-annual change in throughput with respect to changes in GDP is declining. To understand this phenomenon, the authors- in their latest PortReport- have examined variations in containerization, notably factors that cause containerization to increase and decrease. With the intent to explain these upward and downward variations, some working hypotheses will be proposed and demonstrated, particularly the reprimarization of the economy, cargo miniaturization, possible decreases in transhipments, and the increasing use of 40-feet containers rather than 20-feet containers. PortReport No 3 outlines the current status of trade and containerization, advances hypotheses to better understand the phenomenon of containerization for the future while considers the factors that could cause the containerization rate to increase, and others that make it decrease.
PortReport is a PortEconomics series designed to disseminate studies on port economics, policy, and management to a wider readership. Studies included in the series contain original, unpublished research and are subject to approval by the editorial team, with authors retaining copyright of the published work. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect official views of the PortEconomics team. The content might be reproduced subject to citation of the original source. PortReport studies are published regularly and are freely available electronically on the PortEconomics webpage under “PortReport”. To read previous issues of PortReport visit: www.porteconomics.eu/portreport.
