Concentration and the formation of multi-port gateway regions in the European container port system: an update

The European container port system features a unique blend of different port types and sizes combined with a vast economic hinterland. This paper provides an update of the detailed container traffic analysis developed by Notteboom (1997) by extending it to the period 1985–2008 and to 78 container ports. The paper also aims at identifying key trends and issues underlying recent developments in the European container port system. These trends include the formation of multi-port gateway regions, changes in the hinterland orientation of ports and port regionalization processes. While the local hinterland remains the backbone of ports’ traffic positions, a growing demand for routing flexibility fuels competition for distant hinterlands between multi-port gateway regions. The prevailing assumption that containerisation would lead to further port concentration is not a confirmed fact in Europe: the European port system and most of its multi-port gateway regions witness a gradual cargo deconcentration process. Still, the container handling market remains far more concentrated than other cargo handling segments in the European port system, as there are strong market-related factors supporting a relatively high cargo concentration level in the container sector.     

Development dynamics of the Portuguese range as a multi-port gateway system

The aim of this paper is to discuss the current status of port regionalization in the Portuguese range and to identify its possible developments, giving special consideration to cross-border issues. The ‘Portuguese range’ comprises a set of ports located in the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula, grouped in a multi-port gateway region, directly connected to one of the main European Union rail freight corridors. These ports possess a natural competitive advantage as a gateway to foreland regions along the Atlantic Ocean, such as Latin America, North America and West Africa. In order to fully realize this potential, the entire range is engaged in a regionalization process into certain regions of Spain, which is analysed in this paper. The paper builds upon previous work on regionalization, inland terminal networks, dry port development and dyad formations and applies these concepts to the Portuguese range, in its pursue for the capture of hinterlands in Spain. The validity of the regionalization theoretical framework is thus benchmarked against a trans-national case and novel elements are sought to enrich the framework. The paper first describes the current situation of container terminals in the Portuguese range regarding throughput, rail connections, network of inland terminals (and dry ports) and its utilization. Comparison is made with its Spanish counterparts. The policies of major stakeholders are also reviewed concerning dry port and logistic platform development. A number of potential and existing seaport-dry port dyads are identified. Conclusions and policy suggestions are presented.     

Port system evolution – the case of Latin America and the Caribbean

The explosion of global container trade in the last two decades has significantly influenced the port geography of Latin America & the Caribbean (LAC), leading to a concentration of container traffic at selected ports. Theory suggests that, as port systems become mature, they tend to deconcentration, partly due to the emergence of secondary ports. Previous research has examined the region’s dominant ports, but an unanswered research question is how the evolution of this port system is influencing and being influenced by the actions of those ports currently occupying a secondary rank in the LAC port hierarchy.The methodology is based primarily on analysis of time series data on container movements between 1997 and 2012, revealing patterns of cargo flows and transhipment location choices. The institutional context of devolution processes and new investments in the region provides additional insight into the performance of selected ports. From a theoretical perspective, this analysis is situated within the context of recent institutional approaches that examine the port’s ability to act through critical moments and junctures, in order to deepen understanding of which of the various factors influencing port system deconcentration are the most sensitive to successful institutional adaptations.Results show that the manufacturing of strategic locations can be successful and may have driven the emergence of secondary ports in the LAC system. This finding demonstrates how path dependence can be challenged by new developments, the identification and success of which are nevertheless contingent on factors such as the first mover advantage, port planning regimes and diversification of port roles. The paper identifies some of the key factors influencing the transition of a port system from concentration at a few dominant ports to a deconcentrated system of primary and secondary ports, which can be applied to other port systems in future research.     

Path to a multilayered transshipment port system: How the Yangtze River bulk port system has evolved

China's steel output has maintained rapid growth over the past twenty years. Due to this, a large number of iron ore ports/terminals have been built along the Yangtze River, and the Yangtze River bulk port system has experienced a unique development in its structure. This paper aims to understand the evolution of this bulk port system.¹ along the Yangtze River. To achieve this objective, first the development phases of the Yangtze River bulk port system are reviewed, taking the theoretical (container) port evolution model as a benchmark. Then several hypotheses addressing certain features of bulk port system development are proposed, followed by using panel data analysis to test these hypotheses. Based on this discussion and analysis, the major driving forces that are reshaping bulk port development along the Yangtze River are then summarized. It is found that evolution of the Yangtze River bulk port system in general follows the port development models in previous literature. However, the trend toward regionalization and an offshore hub have not appeared. Besides this, iron ore transshipment is moving outward both for sea ports and river ports, and few iron ore transshipment gateway hubs are occurring. Furthermore, the transshipment function of a bulk port plays a significant role in port traffic changes, but this role is affecting sea ports differently to river ports. The container throughput of transshipment sea ports has a significant negative effect on bulk traffic, whereas that of transshipment river ports has a positive effect. Geographical conditions, institutional factors and national policy, industry agglomeration, changes in market supply and demand, and technology updates are major factors driving changes to the port system structure. These factors are observed to function either individually or collectively at different development stages.     

Competition,market concentration,and relative efficiency of major container ports in Southeast Asia

This study aims at investigating the degree of market concentration of container ports in Southeast Asia and to associate the concentration tendency with efficient container operations. While Singapore is the busiest container port in the region, its premier position is threatened by the emergence of other container ports in neighbouring countries. Major top ten container ports in Southeast Asia are included in the analysis, and market concentration is evaluated using established measures and analytical techniques such as the Hirschman-Herfindahl Index (HHI), Gini coefficient, and shift-share analysis from 2007 to 2017. A super-efficiency model is then applied to the ports to investigate the association between shift effects and port efficiency. The HHI index indicates that the container port system in Southeast Asia has become ‘moderately concentrated’ with a score of 0.21 in 2017, contrasting with an index of 0.27 in 2007 suggesting it was ‘highly concentrated’ indicating a tendency towards de-concentration. ‘Super efficiency DEA’ results suggest that Laem Chabang and Singapore ports are ‘efficient’ exhibiting efficiency scores higher than one, while the other eight ports are ‘less efficient’. It is also found from the association of the net-shift effects and efficiency scores that Laem Chabang is the only port that is efficient and gaining market share, and, more importantly, and perhaps surprisingly, the ports gaining market share are ‘inefficient’. This study contributes to the literature not only by investigating the concentration tendency of the fast growing container port system of Southeast Asia, but also by associating efficiency evaluations with the market concentration.     

Selecting container port via a fuzzy ANP-based approach: A case study in the Marmara Region,Turkey

In this case study, a real world problem of a production firm in the Marmara Region, Turkey was considered. In the current situation, the firm works with different third-party logistics firms and uses different ports each time. However, they have some quality problems and decided to work with a logistics firm by using the most convenient port alternative. A number of conflicting qualitative and quantitative criteria exist for evaluating alternative ports. Qualitative criteria are often accompanied by ambiguities and vagueness. To cope with this problem, the fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) method is used in this study. First, we defined the region specific criteria consisting of the twenty sub-criteria under the six main criteria clusters that influence the selection of container port. Then seven alternative container ports located in the Marmara Sea were determined. The results showed that the most convenient district for the container port is Istanbul District, which is one of the biggest economical centers in Eastern Europe.     

Patterns of maritime supply chains: slot capacity analysis

This paper offers a tool for analysing patterns of maritime supply chains. The study uses empirical data on slot capacity deployed by container shipping lines for analysing ports (as nodes) and routes and shipping lines (as links) that are embedded within the maritime supply chain. The ports of Singapore and Hong Kong are chosen to illustrate the respective transhipment and gateway perspectives. Findings reveal that geographical location and changes in the constitution of players can have reverberations on the maritime supply chain dynamics that traverse the port. Furthermore, evidence from trade route data also shows that maritime supply chain dynamics associated with transhipment and gateway ports could be governed by different levels of scope economies, demand complementarity and market power. The paper illustrates the abundant potential of slot capacity analysis for academic and industry/market research. Thus, future research can be pursued in various contexts and for different applications.     

Dynamics of liner shipping network and port connectivity in supply chain systems: analysis on East Asia

The study of ports in supply chain systems is an emerging area of importance which has drawn more attention from researchers in recent years. This paper presents a new perspective in this research area by examining the calling patterns of container shipping services in order to understand the dynamics of port connectivity and inter-port relationships in the supply chains. Empirical evidence is drawn from four major ports in East Asia, namely Shanghai, Busan, Kaohsiung and Ningbo. The study identifies the shipping capacity, trade routes and geographical regions connected to the ports, shipping lines involved, and the extensity and intensity of inter-port relationships among the four container ports from liner shipping network’s perspective. The findings show that most of the shipping capacity employed on the major east–west trade routes became non-exclusive and involved calls at two or more of the four ports. Port planners, terminal operators and carriers could capitalise on opportunities through exploitation of complementary relationships that exist among the selected ports, such as offering a package for shipping lines to call at a portfolio of terminals owned by the same terminal operator. Policy and research implications as well as recommendations are discussed for various stakeholders concerned with port planning and regional development.     

Migration of container terminals as their natural process of evolution: Case study of Gdańsk and Gdynia ports

The paper proposes a theoretical model of container terminals and container port development, based on the life cycle theory, threshold theory and catastrophe theory, and in references to Kuznets' swings (interpreted as waves of infrastructural investments), and Kondratiev long economic waves.The aim of this model is to explain the development process of a container terminal and a port within one technological generation, as well as in intergenerational configuration, and relate it to the migration process of container terminals in the scale of a port-city urban area. Then, the applicability of this model was checked in the case of the container ports in Gdynia and Gdańsk (Poland). The analysed evolution process of ports of Gdynia and Gdańsk conforms with the proposed theoretical model, proving that the migration of container terminals within these ports is a part of their natural process of evolution, being a consequence of their threshold development and location splitting.Considering the physical location of development investments within the container ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia, it was noticed that there are two basic directions of migration of container terminals. One is the migration of the port's main container activity (core terminal or terminals), being a result of a generational change taking place after overcoming the maturity point. The second type of migration is connected with dispersion of port development investments in the increasingly distant port hinterland, caused by the need of the life extension of terminals within one technological generation.In an analogy to the processes of development of living organisms, we can treat the migration of terminal outsourced functions as a “vegetative” increase, being an attempt to extend the life of the terminal, while the migration of the core terminal within the port area (erecting a new generation terminal) can be treated as “generative” growth.     

Delimiting the scope of the hinterland of ports: Proposal and case study

The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology to delimit the scope of the hinterland of ports as accurately and simply as possible. To achieve this goal, the Huff model was adapted. In order to verify the validity of the proposal, it was applied to the Spanish case. As repulsion and attraction factors, both key aspects in the Spatial Interaction Models, the province-port travel time along the road network and the container throughput of the ports were considered respectively. The estimated hinterland of the analysed container ports fits well the observed flows. The obtained results confirm that the proposal made allows to identify the scope of the hinterland of ports in an effective an easy way, which is of interest both to stakeholders and policy makers.     

Container port efficiency in emerging and more advanced markets

The literature on container port efficiency has typically centered on ports in advanced markets or comparisons within regions. This study compares the efficiency of port operations in emerging markets (BRIC and the Next-11) with the more advanced markets (G7). We use data envelopment analysis to evaluate the container ports based on the import and export cargo volumes in 2005. Our results suggest that none of the ports in the advanced markets are role models for the field. This study provides a first step towards gaining insights into port efficiency in emerging markets.     

Levels of internationalization in the container shipping industry: an assessment of the port networks of the large container shipping companies

This paper examines the internationalization level of the world’s largest container shipping companies by examining their port networks. The results of our analysis show that only three of the nineteen companies could be considered as being truly ‘International’ and service the ‘lion’s share’ of the major and minor ports distributed across the globe. The port networks of the other companies in our survey, whilst having individualized features, shared common characteristics. Guided by the ‘Uppsala Model of Incremental Internationalization’ (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977), we were able to identify four internationalization levels of a container shipping company that are indicated by their port network.We argue that the port network plays an additional role as it contributes to the internationalization level of the container shipping companies. This is important because the internationalization level affects the container shipping company’s ability to expand its customer base both at a local and international level. Local customers would have access to a larger international destination network and international customers would be able access a larger local distribution network without transhipping between different companies.Amongst other issues, we were able to determine that, for the analyzed container shipping companies, ‘Internationalization’ of a port network means including or excluding ports in specific regions or sub-regions in their own network, and that a company’s home base or history plays a significant role in this development.     

Spatial competition and complementarity in European port regions

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether inter-port relationships in European container shipping are characterized primarily by competition or complementarity, and to what extent this differs between major port regions. Utilizing a set of spatial dependence model specifications and quarterly container throughput data for 92 European ports in five regions between 2000 and 2014, it is found that the nature of inter-port relationships tend to differ between major port regions. While the Hamburg-Le Havre region is characterized mostly by competition, ports in the Mediterranean region are found to be complementary with regard to demand.     

An analysis of the determinants of cruise traffic: An empirical application to the Spanish port system

We study the determinants that affect the capacity of ports to attract cruise ships in Spain. The conclusion is that the likelihood of having cruise traffic is linked to ports located in populous areas and close to large airports, ports not specialized in container traffic but sharing facilities with ferries traffic and ports having a minimum depth of water. The amount of cruise traffic that a port can generate is also related to the population and the air connections, along with the tourist appeal and the facilities shared with other types of port traffic, namely roll-on roll-off and ferries.     

Governing inland ports: a multi-dimensional approach to addressing inland port–city challenges in European transport corridors

Inland ports have been put forward as crucial linkages for efficient global freight transport and corridor development. However, the present understanding of inland ports appears to be limited to network-based views with a maritime port focus (Outside-In), in which inland ports play second fiddle. We argue that inland ports as independent structures (Inside-Out) deserve equal consideration and that in addition to the transport dimension, the spatial, economic and institutional dimensions of inland ports are vital and should not be neglected. The goal of this paper is to apply the concept of port–city challenges to inland ports. The results of an institutional analysis of Dutch case study evidence show that challenges facing inland ports and cities take many forms but that all share a commonality in the trade-offs between positive and negative externalities. We observe different governance strategies in coping with these trade-offs and find that a proactive stance towards zoning contributes to efficiently accommodating mutually exclusive dimensions of inland port development.     

The impact of seaports on the regional economies in South Korea: Panel evidence from the augmented Solow model

This study reveals the economic impact of seaports on regions in Korea. Econometrics analysis employing an augmented Solow model is conducted based on the panel data covering all the regions of Korea over the period 2000–2013. The econometrics analysis shows that cargo ports without sufficient throughput obstruct regional economic growth, whilst cargo ports contribute to regional economic growth only when they have sufficient throughput. Furthermore, the result indicates that container port activities positively affect regional economic growth, whilst port investment indirectly leads to economic growth. This study contributes to the better understanding of the role of ports in Korean economies.     

The adaptive capacity of container ports in an era of mega vessels: The case of upstream seaports Antwerp and Hamburg

Port system development is a key theme in port geography literature. Recent decades have brought a rise in container terminal development at estuarine, coastal and offshore port locations, in part driven by scale increases in vessel size. This paper examines how container ports located upstream on rivers use processes of adaptive capacity building in an attempt to remain competitive in port systems. We link the development path of upstream seaports to a range of economic, technological, social and political factors. When combined, these factors shape the willingness and capacity of an upstream seaport to adapt to changing conditions such as an increasing demand for nautical accessibility. The case study results on Antwerp and Hamburg show that the discussion on the future of these upstream seaports cannot be detached from broader public policy and stakeholder management concerns and the influences of retention mechanisms, power, politics and collective action by the port community.     

The evolution of a regional container port system: the Pearl River Delta

This study investigates the progress of container port system development in South China, focusing particularly on the interplay between Hong Kong and the other ports in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. After identifying the downgrading trend of Hong Kong from a transshipment hub port for Asia and for China as a whole to a regional load center and the emergence of other deep-sea direct-service ports, the paper looks into the causes of this structural change of the port system. Four major causes are identified: the cost-base competition, the impact of the unique “one-country two-systems” policy, the impact of globalization and container standardization, and the impact of multi-modal accessibility and connectivity. The paper reveals that the interplay between different governments and between the governments and port operators are the local mechanisms that together as a whole respond to the shippers’ needs and the shipping lines’ pressure. It confirms that the interdependencies and competitive relations between terminals are being played out at a regional level. While the particular situation of the PRD is unique in many regards, the features emerging there, with its dominant hub, its network of feeder ports and its emerging direct-service non-hub terminals, are being replicated elsewhere.     

A comparison of service quality at major container ports: implications for Korean ports

This paper presents a comparative evaluation of service quality factors at 15 major container ports in the world. From previous studies and from personal interviews and questionnaires directed to containership operators and logistics managers, the important service quality factors are identified and comparisons among container ports are made. Duncan test analyses suggest that service quality at Northeast Asian ports lags behind that of well-developed major ports elsewhere. The implications of this survey for Korean port development are considered.     

Time efficiency assessment of ship movements in maritime ports: A case study of two ports based on AIS data

Operational efficiency of a maritime port is an important issue for shipping lines and port authorities. It is desirable to move ships in and out of a maritime port as efficiently as possible. Automatic identification system (AIS) data recording the trajectory of ship movements allow us to assess the operational efficiency as ships move in and out of a port. This study proposes a time efficiency assessment framework that evaluates the amount of time each ship spends in the different areas within a port (i.e., berth, anchorage, and fairway) based on the space-time trajectories of ship movements derived from AIS data. According to the statistical distributions of time spent by different types of ship in each port area, the proposed framework can compare time efficiency across different zones within a port and between different ports. This study uses AIS data of four types of ships (i.e., container, cargo, tanker, and passenger ships) at two selected ports in China, Shanghai Yangshan Port and Xiamen Port, to demonstrate how the proposed approach can effectively assess and compare time efficiency levels of ship movements between the times entering and leaving the vessel traffic service (VTS) lines of a port. This study demonstrates the value of deriving space-time trajectories from AIS data based on the concepts of time geography to assess time efficiency levels of maritime ports and monitor their performance over time, which offer useful information to both shipping lines and port authorities for operations such as efficient scheduling and logistic support.