Evaluating determinants of attractiveness and their cause-effect relationships for container ports in Taiwan: users’ perspectives

The attractiveness of ports is usually a pre-requisite and necessary condition for ports to achieve competitiveness, as well as the springboard to explore the competitive advantages of ports. To determine whether a port is competitive, it is necessary to explore whether it boasts certain factors that make the port attractive to users. The main purpose of this article is to apply the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique to evaluate key determinants of attractiveness and their cause/effect relationships for container ports in Taiwan. The empirical results showed that: (1) Top six determinates of attractiveness for container ports are ‘ample cargo sources,’ ‘favorable port charges,’ ‘dense ship network and routes,’ ‘low transshipment costs,’ ‘efficient wharf operations,’ and ‘adequate wharfs and back-line land,’ respectively. (2) Among the above six determinants of attractiveness, ‘ample cargo sources’ is the cause determinant. Three determinants of port attractiveness, ‘favorable port charges,’ ‘dense ship network and routes,’ ‘low transshipment costs,’ which are the effect determinants. They are affected by the determinants of attractiveness of ‘ample cargo sources’. In addition, this study discusses the above findings and expects to provide the study results to Taiwan’s port authorities for reference.     

Port and terminal selection by deep-sea container operators

This paper deals with the importance of port choice and container terminal selection for deep-sea container carriers. The paper focuses on the research question: on what basis do deep-sea container operators select container ports (strategy) and container terminals (financial reasons) in the Hamburg–Le Havre range over others? In answering this research question, three dimensions are addressed in detail: the buying decision characteristics; port choice strategy; and terminal selection. The results show that strategic considerations at company level are important. For port choice the most important criteria from a carrier's perspective are: availability of hinterland connections; reasonable tariffs; and immediacy of consumers (large hinterland). In addition to these criteria, shipping lines attach great value to often neglected factors, such as feeder connectivity, environmental issues and the total portfolio of the port. The study reveals that port selection and terminal selection are not the same with terminal selection criteria mainly depending on: handling speed; handling costs; reliability; and hinterland connections. The analysis also brought forward that the decision making is different per container carrier, per trade and per port type, implying that a one size fits all approach is not relevant.     

Hinterland strategies of port authorities: A case study of the port of Barcelona

Port authorities generally focus on the development of the local port area and play a minor role in the development of port hinterlands, whereas shippers, forwarders, barge and rail operators have always been involved in the port-hinterland connection. The increasing importance of intermodal hinterland networks for the competitive position of ports has urged port authorities to become active in the hinterland. This new role has already been suggested by different academics. However, limited empirical evidence exists of port authorities taking stakes in inland terminals or developing transport services. Barcelona, as one of the leading port authorities in this respect, is used as a case study in this paper. The case study provides insight in the components and execution of the hinterland strategy of Barcelona. It shows that the strategy of the port authority of Barcelona and the consequent active involvement in the hinterland has had a significant impact on attracting container volumes from distant hinterlands and improving the accessibility of the port.     

南沙港综合竞争力分析

文中首先研究了南沙港在自然地理条件、港口腹地经济条件和政策优惠条件等方面的优势以及包括起步晚和腹地经济结构单一在内的劣势,然后综合使用层次分析法(AHP)和模糊综合评价法对南沙港以及香港和深圳港口进行了定量评分。结果表明,南沙港基本具备和深圳港同一水平的竞争力,将会有广阔的发展前景。     

两岸“三通”后闽台港口合作发展展望

文章运用SWOT分析方法，指出闽台两地港口抓住历史性机遇，共建“环台湾海峡港口群”，合力打造“环台湾海峡国际航运中心”的可能性和面临的挑战。提出了两地当务之急是要建立港口战略合作沟通机制，深度整合双方港口资源，研究突破双方开展港口合作的制度障碍，加大两地临港工业和港口物流建设的力度，不断加强双方的港口货物集疏运系统建设，增加对腹地货源的吸引力。     

Port strategic planning: Canadian port reform

Recent port reform established major commercial ports as Canadian Port Authorities (CPAs) as federal non-profit, business corporations. Canadian port reform was aimed at allowing CPAs to compete effectively. Canada's major ports operate in an increasingly competitive business environment. To gain advantage over their competition, Canadian ports must develop business strategies dealing with their organizational cultures, institutional structures, operations, and facility provision. Developing appropriate strategies involves creating a strategic plan that considers external and internal port environments. This paper outlines the evolution of strategic planning and its applicability to Canadian ports. The initial literature review is followed by a brief review of Canadian port reform and an analysis of external and internal port environments. This analysis determines the resources available to exploit external opportunities and defend against threats, and considers the internal strengths and weaknesses of Canadian ports. A list of strategic issues facing Canadian ports and how the Canada Marine Act affected them is derived from the analysis.     

Port competition between Shanghai and Ningbo

The objective of this paper is to analyse the relative competitiveness of the neighbouring container ports of Shanghai and Ningbo in China and to develop a view of the likely future outcome of the competition between them. After assessing the demand for their services within what is hypothesized as a shared hinterland, current supply and future expansion plans are detailed and considered within the two ports’ wider development strategies. The relative competitiveness of the two ports is then evaluated on the basis of price and quality of service, as embodied within the concept of generalized cost as incurred by customers. A critical political dimension is a necessary element of this analysis. It is concluded that continued economic development in the hinterland, central government policies on regional development and China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will all contribute to growing demand for port services. However, Ningbo will continue to gain greater market share as the result of advantages in its natural endowments (particularly depth of water), price (especially in terms of recovering the cost of capacity expansions) and quality of service improvements that are predicted to emerge as the result of currently planned enhancements to inland transport infrastructure and logistical systems.     

Small ports in Northern Ireland: A method of study

This paper discusses the strategies which might be adopted by port authorities, given that modern port technologies have considerably limited the scope for competition. It therefore analyses the several forms of competition relevant to ports, any or all of which may apply in any given instance.

It describes the 'minimalist strategy, which consists of recognizing that public sector bodies have many faults, may make many mistakes and that well-intentioned attempts to rectify faults in the private sector may make matters worse. Second, it describes the ‘pragmatic’ strategy, which involves establishing committees to examine problems and to recommend actions, if they can reach a consensus. Third, it describes the ‘public sector’ strategy, which involves the port authority taking over all port functions. Finally, it describes the ‘competitive’ strategy, which involves a careful reproduction of the circumstances of competition, even though there may be room for only one efficiently-sized operator at a time. Franchising, or short-term leasing on any of a variety of competitive bases, so as to produce serial competition is described. Each of these strategies is presented as having its own advantages and disadvantages, and each may be suitable to particular circumstances.     

Port strategic planning: Canadian port reform

Recent port reform established major commercial ports as Canadian Port Authorities (CPAs) as federal non-profit, business corporations. Canadian port reform was aimed at allowing CPAs to compete effectively. Canada's major ports operate in an increasingly competitive business environment. To gain advantage over their competition, Canadian ports must develop business strategies dealing with their organizational cultures, institutional structures, operations, and facility provision. Developing appropriate strategies involves creating a strategic plan that considers external and internal port environments. This paper outlines the evolution of strategic planning and its applicability to Canadian ports. The initial literature review is followed by a brief review of Canadian port reform and an analysis of external and internal port environments. This analysis determines the resources available to exploit external opportunities and defend against threats, and considers the internal strengths and weaknesses of Canadian ports. A list of strategic issues facing Canadian ports and how the Canada Marine Act affected them is derived from the analysis.     

Market structures and competitive strategies: the carrier–stevedore arm-wrestling in northern European ports

Over the last few years, liner and stevedoring markets have been facing new challenges. The progressive concentration on the demand side (carriers) and the emergence of global alliances in the mid-1990s have triggered a similar process of consolidation on the supply side (stevedores). In turn, more recently, the strategic choices of pure terminal operators have led to the progressive involvement of carriers in port operations, both from a financial and a managerial point of view. This paper aims at analysing the current contest in northern Europe between customers and suppliers of port services. Substantial concentration in the stevedoring market and the emergence of dedicated facilities in that area, make this arm-wrestling stronger and stronger.

At present, the liner market is following a number of strategic directions including the pursuit of economies of scale (larger vessels) and the supply of services using faster vessels (deployment of ‘fewer’ assets) in order to offer either new services or additional loops (scope). By exploring the strategic behaviours of the top carriers (‘bigger’ or ‘more effective’), the paper attempts to outline the future evolution of the two industries in a 2015 vision, highlighting in particular scenarios for north European ports. Global alliances are weakening and a new era of M&As is probably approaching: how will the bargaining power change between port users and port customers? Which competitive paradigm will dominate?     

港口企业竞争策略分析

针对我国港口间争夺腹地、争夺货源的竞争日益激烈的新形势,提出了港口企业应采取的竞争策略。     

Upstream transport corridor inefficiencies and the implications for port performance: a case analysis of Mombasa Port and the Northern Corridor

The role of efficient ports in the socio-economic prosperity of national and regional economies cannot be overstated. However, their ability to effectively deliver on this role is easily undermined by circumstances in the wider socio-economic context, particularly poor hinterland connectivity. In order to enhance international trade connectivity, many advanced and advancing economies continue to invest significant resources in developing efficient ports and hinterland transport networks. The situation is different in many parts of the developing world, particularly Africa, where poor economic connectivity and inefficient gateway ports result in prohibitively high transportation costs. Focusing on the northern trade and transport corridor in the East and Southern Africa (ESA) region, this article examines how poor hinterland connectivity undermines the performance of Mombasa port. It concludes that, although the port’s management has in recent years invested significantly in performance-enhancing initiatives, their success is limited by a constricted economic environment that is characterised by poor hinterland connectivity and chronic logistics bottlenecks along the arterial corridor.     

Value creation in the port: opening the boundaries to the market

In the era of fierce competition among ports as elements of value chain systems, the opening of the boundaries to the market represents a crucial challenge that port authority has to cope with, in order to guarantee a lasting economic and social development of the port and its hinterland. We propose a theoretical framework to analyse value creation in the port and its hinterland through two core concepts: resource allocation and interaction. We illustrate such framework with the case of the port of Naples and, specifically, the contribution of the port authority and other port business operators to the value creation process of Garofalo, an export-oriented firm located in its hinterland. A discussion and suggestions for future research are provided in the last section.     

江苏沿海港口吞吐量影响因素及预测分析

目前江苏沿海地区综合开发已上升到国家发展战略层面,沿海港口建设正在迅猛开展。港口吞吐量的预测对于港口的建设有着极其重要的意义。以港口和腹地之间的互动关系为出发点,分析了可能影响江苏沿海港口吞吐量的若干因素,采用主成分分析法提取了过去10年影响港口吞吐量的最关键因素,剖析了江苏港口发展的内在影响机理,并提出了基于影响机理的预测模型。最后使用模型对江苏港口吞吐量进行验证分析,模型为江苏沿海港口新一轮发展提供了有力的数据支撑。     

Smaller ports’ evolution towards catalysing sustainable hinterland development

ABSTRACT

From simple organizations as gateways for goods and passengers, ports have evolved and transformed into complex organizational systems with multiple functions. Besides providing cargo, logistics, and other kinds of services to its customers, modern ports engage in the development of their hinterlands. Sustainability, evolving from environmental actions over the years, has become the core of many modern ports’ approach towards hinterland development and port competitiveness. While the literature is concerned with and presents examples of large ports implementing sustainability initiatives, the literature is scarce on smaller ports. This article addresses this gap by exploring qualitatively the case of the Port of Aalborg, a medium-sized port in Denmark, and its evolution towards using sustainability for port and hinterland development. The research focuses on the actions behind environmental development at the port. Its evolution is mapped and explored using the analytical framework developed based on the (larger) ports’ development and their roles. The findings from the Port of Aalborg case exemplify how smaller ports can evolve to drive the sustainable development of their hinterlands and contribute to a better understanding of this kind of port.     

港口腹地划分的断-电模型研究

如何准确地划分港口的腹地范围,以明确港口的定位和规划布局很重要。现有的港口腹地划分方法大多只以某一个单一因素作为港口腹地划分的依据,只能实现对港口腹地的笼统划分,不能满足指导港口制定未来发展目标与规划的任务。在总结了以往的腹地划分方法的基础上,提出了一种新的港口腹地划分方法——断-电模型。该模型是基于城市腹地划分的断裂点模型和电子云模型综合而成的,是在考虑到港口及腹地地区综合影响因素的基础上建立的,能够较为准确地划分港口的腹地范围。最后以营口港的腹地划分为例对断-电模型进行了实际应用,并取得满意效果。     

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.     

港口腹地划分的两种新方法探讨--以大连国际航运中心为例

引入经济地理学的新理论成果———圈层结构法和点轴法,提出了圈层结构划分法和点轴结构划分法两种新的港口腹地划分方法,并应用这两种新方法对大连国际航运中心港口腹地范围的界定与划分进行实例分析。与以往的行政区划法、经济区域法等港口腹地划分方法相比,这两种方法更加注重对港口原有腹地的细分,更接近于港口腹地的实际状况,进而有利于港口企业的经营发展。     

A conceptual framework for cooperation in hinterland development between neighbouring seaport authorities

The hinterland of a port is probably the most important aspect in the competition between gateway ports. This paper, starting with a literature overview, shows how the port authority can extend its hinterland with the aim of increasing its attractiveness and, eventually, its throughput. To achieve this, it can be advantageous to cooperate with adjacent port authorities. Together, through cooperation, economies of scale can be realised that facilitate a modal shift away from road to a more efficient and more sustainable transport. This would reduce the cost of transport to/from the hinterland region from/to these ports consequently increasing the attractiveness and the market share of the cooperating ports for this region. The paper describes a conceptual method to identify and quantify the opportunities for cooperation in the hinterland. The framework starts, after some basic transport economic concepts, from (theoretically available) hinterland data to locate regions that are at the edge of the contested hinterland of a port region and results in a methodology that can be used to generate a quantified list of regions where cooperation will make a difference. Using this methodology, port authorities (PAs), of any region where hinterland data are available, can list, together with their neighbours, the regions where to prioritise their efforts.     

茂名港外贸铁矿石运输发展定位及市场研究

本项目首先通过对西南沿海港口群外贸铁矿石运输的分析,得出公用码头外贸铁矿石运输供需矛盾突出的结论。其次,结合茂名港自然条件和区位优势等因素分析,确定了茂名港外贸铁矿石运输发展定位。最后,在腹地企业需求分析、综合运费对比等基础上,预测了茂名港外贸铁矿石运输市场空间。