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Ranking 2023 of Latin American container ports and terminals: the "seesaw" game
By Ricardo J. Sánchez & Eliana P. Barleta Why the ranking? Although sometimes different numbers are used, it is known that maritime transport accounts for around 80% of world trade in goods in terms of volume and 70% of its value. Latin America represents approximately 7% of this sum, with a high component of raw materials of mineral and vegetable origin, and foodstuffs of all kinds. The international trade of the region is directly connected to the three main world maritime routes: Europe, North America and Asia,...
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Competition effects of vertical integration in container ports: assessing the European Commission decisional practice
Container liner shipping companies started expanding their business by investing in container port terminals in the late 1990s. This market entry results in an extensive presence of vertically integrated liners and terminals. A recenty study explores the competition effects of this vertical integration trend based on a regional (European) analysis. In particular, it extracts lessons from the European Commission cases on the competition effects of vertical integration. The critical analysis of the cases examined at the institutional level...
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Big news: the restructuring of liner shipping alliances
Big news from the container shipping market, and this time not related to the Red Sea Crisis. Hapag-Lloyd will leave THE Alliance and start a partnership with Maersk under the name 'Gemini Cooperation' from February 2025 onward, immediately after the conclusion of our current 2M Alliance. Their new network will cover 7 trades: Asia / US West Coast, Asia / US East Coast, Asia / Middle East, Asia / Mediterranean, Asia / North Europe, Middle East – India / Europe and Transatlantic. The Network will comprise of 26 mainline...
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The leading global container terminal operators in the top 15 EU container ports
PortEconomics member Theo Notteboom reviews the presence of the leading global container terminal operators in the top 15 EU container ports (based on 2022 TEU figures). The blue boxes refer to all types of direct or indirect terminal involvement: full ownership, joint venture or a majority or minority shareholding. A distinction is made between carrier-linked (bottom) and non carrier-linked (top) terminal operators. The table puts the current controversy in Hamburg on MSC’s offer to buy a 49.9% share in HHLA, Hamburg's largest...
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International freight transport: exports no longer China’s Achilles heel
In the anniversary magazine ’10 years of Flows’, PortEconomics member Theo Notteboom highlights trade between the West and China in an interview with Flow's editor-in-chief Koen Dejaeger. These flows of goods form the backbone of container traffic in the world today. How did they originate, and how will they evolve as geopolitical tensions mount? The role China has played in the development of international freight transport cannot be overstated. Today, the geopolitical power blocs are increasingly opposing each other; a tense...
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Mobility in European container port rankings
PortEconomics members Pierre Cariou and Jason Monios, joined by Gabriel Figueiredo de Oliveira (University of Toulon, France), investigated the changes in European container port rankings to determine if and how a new dynamic phase can follow a phase of maturity in a container port range. Their portstudy examines mobility in ranking from 2000 to 2019 and sheds light on the influence of neighbouring ports in a range as well as the level of maturity of each range. Findings from three different methods (Gini coefficient...
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Container terminal automation: a global analysis on decision-making drivers, benefits realized, and stakeholder support
The METRANS Transportation Center has released the full study on "Container Terminal Automation" developed by PortEconomics members Geraldine Knatz, Theo Notteboom & Thanos Pallis In the past decade, container terminal automation has become a key theme in terminal development and operations. The progressive introduction of semi- and fully-automated terminal systems is driven, among other reasons, by the need for operations standardization, reduction in manning and increase in productivity. Yet, only certain terminals will fit the...
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China’s investments in seaports along the maritime silk road
by Thanos Pallispublished in Naftemporiki (ed). Focus on Shipping, 28 Sept, 2023 Chinese investments in European seaports have increased rapidly in the 21st century. This increase is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – in particular, its maritime component, the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) – and is among the economic and geopolitical effects of China’s growing role in global affairs. Seaports are crucial pivots connecting a national economy with the world economy. Historically, however, China was a land power;...
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