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New book: sustainable port clusters and economic development
Many port (authority) managers are presently engaged in collaborative agreements with partners located in both their proximate geographic area and far beyond this area. The economic drivers of such cooperation can vary widely and include goals as diverse as an expected, stronger competitive position to attract and retain traffic flows, better access to capital, or an improved, overall control over the logistics chain. From a governance perspective, the cooperative agreements can range from top-down, government-influenced alliance formation...
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The unproductive and induced mobility of empty container repositioning in peripheral regions
The movement of goods between locations of production and consumption rely on a complex global logistics system that is underpinned by immobile freight infrastructure and particularly transfer points such as ports, which are nevertheless constituted by an institutional mobility of governance, regulation and investment that has changed a great deal in the last few decades. Therefore, the freight system, when considered from a mobilities perspective, exhibits several of the characteristic features identified in the seminal early papers on the...
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PortGraphic: the global container terminals operators in top 20 European ports
By Theo Notteboom Interesting times in the container terminal business in Europe. PSA International together with Polish sovereign wealth fund PFR and IFM Investors have agreed a deal with Macquarie to buy DCT Gdansk, the number 15 container port in Europe. Also, MSC has plans to strengthen its ownership position in Medcenter Container Terminal (Gioia Tauro). In the past two years, there has been quite some activity in the terminal industry. For example, Cosco Shipping Ports got involved in Zeebrugge (Belgium) and Noatum Port holdings...
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Models of cruise ports governance
The last two decades the structure, strategies, and operational frameworks of cruise ports changed in too many respects. Infrastructure renewal and construction has been accompanied by a wave of reform in cruise ports governance. Cruise ports management has matured with sophisticated strategies involving port professionals and linked port service providers and stakeholders. Operational practices have been reformed serving the changing features of the deployed (bigger) vessels and the modern cruise product. The reorganisations have in...
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The Analyst: bold move or shortsighted?
By Peter de Langen At the end of 2018, the Danish municipality of Kolding, the owner of Port of Kolding and the landlord port development company, decided to shut down the commercial port with a transition period of 25 years. That deserves a WOW. It also begs questions: is this a bold visionary move to be applauded? Is it likely to be replicated elsewhere? Does it have repercussions for the way we think about the ownership of state-owned port companies? From a public policy perspective, the core question is whether or not closing...
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PortGraphic: top10 container ports in North America in 2018
By Theo Notteboom The table provides an overview of the TEU throughput in 2018 in the top 10 container ports in North America and also shows the growth figures 2017/2018 and 2007/2018. The figures lead to the following conclusions. The top 10 ports in North America handled 47 million TEU in 2018 The top 10 ports in North America handled 47 million TEU in 2018 or +4.9% compared to 2017 and +23.5% compared to 2007. In comparison, these figures were +4.7% and +94.4% respectively for the top 10 container ports in mainland China (183...
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Ιnternationalization of port managing bodies
PortEconomics members Michaël Dooms, Larissa Van Der Lugt, Francesco Parola, Giovanni Satta, joined by Dong-Wook Song (World Maritime University) in their latest port study, published at the scientific journal Maritime Policy and Management, aimed to establish a framework being conceptually able to explain a variety of internationalization strategies and related activities employed by port managing bodies (PMBs), as defined by the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) in 2018, considering their hybrid nature. Having identified a potential to...
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PortGraphic: Top15 container ports in Europe in 2018
By Theo Notteboom The cargo volume handled remains a key performance indicator for ports. While also other indicators related to logistics performance, sustainability, innovation and economic impact are gaining ground, it remains relevant to observe how cargo volumes have evolved over time. The table shows the top 15 container ports in the European Union in 2018 based on container throughput expressed in TEU. It also includes container growth figures compared to 2017 and pre-crisis year 2007. What do the figures reveal? Top 15: y-o-y...
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