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Latin America and the Caribbean ports: container throughput rises 1.7%
The movement of cargo in containers in Latin American and Caribbean ports grew 1.7% during 2015, according to figures unveiled in ECLAC’s new edition of its ranking of container port throughput, published in its Maritime Profile. These figures confirm two trends observed during the last years in the region: the slowdown of foreign trade shown by container terminals and great heterogeneity of the growth rates inside the region. Regional average of 1.7% container throughput growth, although still higher than the rate recorded in 2014...
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The top-5 strategy errors made by ports
By Peter de Langen and Jonas Mendes Constante After many years advising companies from different sectors about creating and executing their strategic plans, we have witnessed both good and bad decisions - not necessarily in equal order. Here, we outline the five most common mistakes that port authorities and terminals companies make. First up, it is important to remember that the strategic plan is a document, not a process. A strategic plan can only create results if its goals are widely shared and incorporated by all departments, and if...
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Container port investment: the inexorable rise of financial players
Since the early-2000s, given the increasing profitability of the container port business, a number of financial investors were stimulated to both reach new market segments and enter the industry as investors. As additional financial resources have been increasingly requested from the sector to fuel greenfield mega-projects, M&A activity and the accelerated foreign expansion of international terminal operators (ITOs), financial investors increased have their effort by providing financial and technical support to both shipping...
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Successful public-private partnerships in port infrastructure projects: a guide
Whilst port infrastructure is crucial to the advancement of local and national economies, the fact remains that port infrastructure procurement, development and operations are costly both towards the capital expenditure needed to develop the assets, as well as the operating costs generated by running the assets. As a result, in tackling the burdens associated with public infrastructure development, several types of public-private mixing have arisen over the centuries. One type of cooperation that has gained a lot of attention in...
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Tapping into growth potential
COMMENT: A quick way to get an understanding of the development potential of the ports industry in a country is to look at the throughput per capita, writes Peter de Langen. Eurostat publishes such data and the ‘usual suspects’ score highly. The Netherlands handles about 33 tons per year per capita and Belgium about 20, compared with the EU average of 7.3. However, Norway has the highest ratio - over 40 ton per capita - due to substantial import and export flows of liquid and dry bulk. Naturally, some countries have volume/capita...
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Portgraphic: chinese, EU & north american container port regions: 1985-2015
By Theo Notteboom The figure shows the evolution of container throughput in the three main container port regions in China (i.e. Yangtze River Delta, Pearly River Delta and the Bohai Rim). We compare these volume dynamics with some key port systems in North America and Europe: the port system along the North American West Coast including ports such as Seattle/Tacoma, Vancouver, LA, Long Beach and Oakland; East coast ports such as Norfolk, Charleston, New York/New Jersey, Baltimore, Savannah and Halifax; the Hamburg-Le Havre port range...
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Mediterranean cruise ports: traffic growth continues
A 5,62% increase of passenger movements comparing to 2014 was registered in Mediterranean cruise ports in 2015. The variation of cruise passenger movements in the second biggest cruise region of the world is positive when one relates the numbers with the one that had taken place at the beginning of the decade. In 2015 cruise ports in the Med and its adjoining seas hosted 10,7% more passenger movements than in 2010. MedCruise the association cruise ports in the Med and its adjoining seas revealed that a total of 27.206.023 cruise...
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The Analyst: starting on the right footing
COMMENT: Last year was a year of differing fortunes for Belgium seaports, writes Peter de Langen. Volumes in Zeebrugge dropped by over 20%, from more than 2m teu to slightly over 1.5m teu, and PSA decided to close down its container terminal in the port. Meanwhile, volumes in Antwerp grew. Antwerp grew with roughly the amount of volumes that was lost in Zeebrugge, and here MSC and PSA are expanding and relocating their jointly operated terminal. Antwerp Port Authority is also pushing ahead with the development of a new dock, the so...
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