Consolidation and contestability in the European container handling industry

The first part of this paper brings into discussion some recent changes in the dynamics of the European container handling business, in particular as a result of vertical and horizontal integration strategies of container terminal operators. The industry structure has become sufficiently consolidated to raise a fundamental question about whether market forces are sufficient to prevent the abuse of market power. In this context, reference is made to the theory of contestable markets. The second part of the paper looks more closely to the issue of contestability by means of an exploratory and qualitative study of elements that could prevent other players entering or exiting the European container handling market. As such, a first indication is given of the degree of contestability in the container handling industry.     

北亚得里亚海集装箱港口群市场前景分析

欧洲发达市场是全球集装箱海运重要板块,对其市场发展潜力分析是中资企业参与欧洲集装箱港口投资的必要前提。集装箱港口市场发展潜力受多种因素影响,以腹地生产法进行市场预测是当前的主流方法,但该方法主要以外贸需求作为变量,存在片面性。针对当前海外港口集装箱市场分析中存在的问题,提出最优路径模型下港口集装箱市场规模预测,并以亚得里亚海北部港口群作为典型案例予以说明。分析表明,最优路径模型在大范围集装箱港口市场规模分析中具有较好的适应性,能够为投资决策提供参考。     

Competition between the ports of Hong Kong and Singapore: a structural vector error correction model to forecast the demand for container handling services

The objective of this paper is to provide the Hong Kong government with an alternative forecast of container throughput, by studying various interactive relationships between major ports in East and Southeast Asia. As the demand for container handling services is 'derived' from the demand for imports, the resulting market shares for the container handling services gripped by different regions inevitably become a mirror image of the relative competitiveness of their exports. When the markets of the two ports overlap, their market shares will become a function of the prices they charge and how well they meet the needs of the shippers and shipping lines. A vector error correction model (VECM) with structural identification was set up to capture this kind of trade-interdependency and oligopolistic relationship in the East and Southeast Asian market for container handling services. In the course of so-doing, the upward sloping supply curves and downward sloping demand curve for the container handling services provided by Hong Kong and Singapore are identified from the model. Interestingly, the impulse response functions display what is reminiscent of the trade-interdependency and oligopolistic relationship. The forecast of Hong Kong container throughput generated by the structural VECM is then compared with that obtained by the Hong Kong Port Development Board (PDB). The sensitivity analysis shows that, in all possible cases, the structural VECM produces higher growth paths for the Hong Kong container throughput than the PDB does and, hence, suggests an earlier construction of new terminals.     

The size effect of a port on the container handling efficiency level and market share in internation transshipment flow

This study examines the relationship between the size of a port, its efficiency increase and the performance growth in the transshipment market. The hypothesis tested is that the bigger size of a port would increase the market share of the port in container transshipment; only when the size effect guarantees better ‘relative’ container handling efficiency in competing port system where the port belongs. To verify the hypothesis, this study carries out two analyses. First, the overall efficiency change of major Asian ports is examined through stochastic frontier analysis (SFA)—this produces the relative efficiency indices of the ports. Second, the relationship between efficiency indices and container transshipment volumes is studied through panel data analysis. From these analyses, it is observed that larger Asian ports show better cargo handling efficiency in relative terms; they also record bigger market share in container transshipment, while the size effect of the ports starts to play a factor when the annual container throughput reaches 5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).     

Eastern/Western European shipping companies and multimodal transport operations

The purpose of this article is to discuss the current developments in multimodal cargo flows in North European freight transports from Eastern and Western European shipping companies' point of view. Four types of options were identified for shipping companies in multimodal transport operations, namely: (i) the full service operator option, (ii) the feeder operator option in container trades, (iii) the ro-ro operator option, and (iv) the ferry operator option. Option (i) requires a global transport network together with efficient information handling capabilities. This option can be reached by a limited number of mega-carriers. The scope of investment and know-how in this option is such that Eastern European operators are unlikely to achieve this level. In (ii), fleets from (or registered in) the former socialist countries have an advantage as low cost operators, provided that the quality of the operation conforms to principals' requirements. However, the supply side in the intra-European container feeder trades seems to be quite saturated, and new market shares will be very difficult to acquire in the 1990s. In ro-ro shortsea trades the major freight transport operators are well integrated into either freight forwarder driven arrangements (Sweden, Germany), or into major shippers (Finland). As providers of port-to-port transports for road-based cargoes, ferry operators continue to play an important part in international transports. However, the major incentive (and revenue) for passenger/car ferry operations is usually derived from consumers' vacational or travelling needs. Along with the ongoing transition process and a higher level of economic stability that is hopefully achieved in these countries, mergers and acquisitions by Western partners are likely to follow.     

海港集装箱码头新型装卸工艺技术和模式的探讨

通过对国、内外海港集装箱码头新工艺和新技术开发研究情况的介绍,认为采用节能减排技术、新型高效的岸边装卸桥和堆场水平运输机械设备,建设自动化集装箱堆场(ACY)和全自动化的集装箱码头(ACT)已成为今后海港集装箱码头发展的方向.根据新时期我国海港集装箱码头发展的特点,提出集装箱码头和堆场装卸工艺模式创新的设想,并建议创造...     

国际集装箱运输市场的现状、趋势及对策

在国际集装箱运输市场的两个主要影响因素增长速度总体趋于变缓的影响下,国际集装箱运输市场出现了一些新的现状和趋势。在分析国际集装箱运输市场主要影响因素变化的基础上,从市场需求、市场供给、市场价格、服务内容等方面分析了国际集装箱运输市场的现状;进一步地研究了国际集装箱运输市场的未来趋势。基于国际集装箱运输市场的未来趋势,主要从造船业、航运业、港口业、集装箱制造业等行业角度给出了具体对策。     

Examining the influence of firm performance on business risk-taking and the mediation effect of scale of operations in the container terminal industry

Container shipping and its related service sectors help accelerate globalization of the world economy. This industry has been experiencing rapid growth, prompting container terminal operators to increase their handling capacity in response. Providing container terminal services requires substantial capital investment in physical assets such as cargo handling facilities and information systems. On the other hand, operating container terminals is a long-term investment that typically spans several business cycles. Hence prudent asset management using appropriate tools is critical for container terminal operators to sustain their businesses. Generally, due to risk-adverseness, investors are unwilling to take more risk in their investment unless they can reap a higher return. Contrary to this argument, this study finds no direct influence of better firm performance as a proxy of higher return on business risk-taking by container terminal operators. Instead, scale of operations is positively associated with business risk-taking, suggesting that container terminal operators with a larger scale of operations are willing to take more business risk.     

2008年世界船舶市场评述及展望

回顾了2008年世界船舶市场的发展，并对未来一两年的船舶市场进行了预测。2008年上半年船舶行业继续保持快速发展，但受美国金融危机影响，下半年船舶建造市场急速降温，成交缩减，船价开始下滑。未来世界经济发展前景尚不乐观、航运市场运力投放集中，因此，油船、散货船、集装箱船市场短期内仍将维持弱势，但海洋工程装置受影响程度相对较小。     

自动化集装箱码头装卸工艺系统应用现状与展望

装卸工艺系统是影响自动化集装箱码头总体布局、作业效率和营运成本的关键因素,是设计时需首先考虑的问题。为把握自动化装卸工艺系统的技术发展方向,在论述现有自动化集装箱码头工艺系统应用现状及技术特点的基础上,根据自动化锁销拆装装置、岸桥远程操控、智能驾驶、新能源、自动化轮胎吊等装备技术的发展分析自动化工艺系统的发展趋势,可为自动化集装箱码头的规划建设提供参考。     

关于提升天津港东疆保税港区集装箱业务竞争力的探讨

集装箱物流是吸引制造业资本跨国转移的重要条件,是港口城市参与国际经济大循环的有效途径,已成为促进港口城市经济发展的重要动力.世界各主要经济体都十分关注本国外贸港口在国际集装箱运输中的地位和作用,近年来国际集装箱运输市场的不断成熟为港口集装箱业务带来了前所未有的机遇和挑战.基于对国际集装箱运输市场发展趋势的分析,探讨影响港口集装箱业务竞争力的因素和天津港东疆保税港区发展集装箱业务的竞争优势,为制定提升东疆保税港区集装箱业务竞争力的策略提供建议.     

Impact of scale increase of container ships on the generalised chain cost

In recent years, an increase in the size of the container ships could be observed. The question is how these larger ships will influence the total generalised costs from a port of loading to a destination in the European hinterland. The second question is whether a scale increase of the container ships on other loops, such as a loop from the United States to Europe, has the same impact on the generalised chain costs as on the loop from Asia to Europe. A derived question is which element of the total chain has the highest importance, and whether this balance varies as the ship size changes. In this article, a model is developed that allows answering the above research questions. The model is designed to simulate the cost of a complete loop of a container ship and of a chain that uses that same loop. For the chain cost simulation, the maritime part is determined by the loop. From the ports of loading and unloading, the port container handling and the hinterland transportation costs are also integrated. The model also allows calculating the total chain cost from a point of origin (either a hinterland region or a port) to a destination point (also a port or a hinterland region). An actual container loop of a container shipping company can be introduced in the model. An application is made to two existing container loops, namely from Asia respectively the United States to Europe. It turns out that changing ship does indeed lead to economies of scale, but also that the impact is larger on the Asia–Europe connection than on the US–Europe connection. Furthermore, the maritime component has the biggest share in the total chain cost, but as ship size increases, the shares start getting closer to each other. This research contributes to the existing literature in two ways. First of all, it quantifies the impact of the scale increase of container ships throughout the total chain. Second, this is done from a bottom-up engineering modelling approach.     

集装箱绑扎和紧固技术及产业发展浅析

介绍了集装箱绑扎和紧固技术,梳理了集装箱绑扎件行业的标准现状、技术现状,系统地回顾了集装箱绑扎和紧固件的制造发展历程及市场分布,最后分析了集装箱运输产业的发展现状及趋势,为产业的优化改进提供方向,也为绑扎和紧固技术的发展提供参考。     

超大型集装箱船舶装卸作业交通组织方式研究

为了深入分析超大型集装箱船舶装卸作业问题,最大限度地减少船舶在港时间,基于Witness仿真软件平台,建立了超大型集装箱船舶装卸作业仿真模型,对装卸作业过程进行模拟试验,统计分析装卸作业的相关参数,提出作业优化方案.     

Enhancing the competitiveness of Korea’s container shipping industry through structural improvements

ABSTRACT

After the collapse of Hanjin Shipping in 2016, Korea faced the task of reconstructing its container shipping industry by enhancing the competitiveness of its shipping companies in a rapidly evolving market environment. Responding to this need for policy design, this study first attempts to understand the industry based on the shipping ecosystem, which comprises the following four areas: shipping finance, collection of cargo, acquisition of ships, and partnership among carriers. Second, it lists the structural problems, along with the remedial policy alternatives, that were identified after conducting in-depth interviews with industry experts, which included mid-level managers. Third, it conducts an importance-performance analysis to classify problems according to their importance and performance, followed by an analytic hierarchy process analysis to define the priorities of policy alternatives. Finally, drawing on the empirical results, the paper concludes with suggestions on an integrated policy package for the container shipping industry.     

港口集装箱装卸作业的碳排放量计算方法

港口属于能源密集型行业,码头前方装卸生产和后方储运作业中的能源消耗量和碳排放量较高。结合港口集装箱码头的装卸作业,重点分析各装卸运输设备的能源消耗指标及其影响因素,提出计算集装箱码头碳排放量的理论公式,为定量描述集装箱港口碳排放情况提供参考。     

内河码头集装箱起重机新机型的探讨

提出一种以臂桥架变幅系统为主要工作机构的岸边集装箱起重机。该机结构新颖,具有工作速度高、工作范围大、装卸效率高、重量小、成本低等优点,适应内河集装箱码头前沿的装卸作业。     

上海港外贸集装箱装卸价格策略研究

面对市场激励的竞争，提出上海外贸集装箱装卸价格策略应定位在以竞争为主的价格策略，叙述了几种不同的价格调整策略，最后介绍了要实施所制定价格调整策略，所必需的保障措施。     

Italian ports: towards a new governance?

The adoption in 1994 of the law n. 84 introducing the landlord port model marked the starting point of a prime period for the Italian port industry. It contributed to the national port industry renaissance: Italian ports became again the leaders in the Mediterranean basin, both as gateway ports and as transhipment ports. Looking back to its 15 years of enforcement, critical aspects and weaknesses have been observed. The incentive to reflect on the governance structure of ports and on the changes affecting the whole logistics transport chain is driven by the relative and absolute loss of position of Italian ports with respect to their competitors of the North as well as of the South European range (and the ports of Northern Africa which are expected to compete fiercely in the coming future). Considering only the container traffic, from 2003 to 2008 the market share of Italian ports decreased from 20.7% to 15.7% in favor of its main European competitors. The loss of attractiveness of Italian harbors is a clear symptom of the several difficulties national ports face in dealing with the rapid changes affecting the port industry. This paper discusses the bill presented by the Italian Government concerning the ports governance reform.     

Verifying liner Shipping Alliance’s stability by applying core theory

The core is a vital concept in cooperative game theory and has been widely used in analyzing alliance’s stability. It is especially interesting to apply core theory in liner shipping market due to the latter’s exceptional characteristic of non-homogeneous cost curves as well as divisible and fluctuant demand. Having observed some new phenomena and trends in the industry, this paper studies the economic performance and stability of liner shipping alliance by applying core theory where business cooperation is partly realized by delivering joint-service with mega container ships. To demonstrate the core situation in liner shipping alliance, a cost function is first identified on the basis of two assumptions regarding cooperation: 1) sharing or pooling vessels and 2) deploying mega container ships if needed. Taking cost functions as basis, two conditions of approaching core may be groomed, i.e., collective rationality and individual rationality. The first condition is discussed from the perspective of market, while the second condition is studied within the alliance. Stability of liner shipping alliance is then observed based on these two conditions. An illustrative case study is conducted in order to show some implications and explicitly clarify the theory.