The port sector has radically changed over the past two centuries. During the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, ports tended to be instruments of state or colonial powers and port access and egress was regarded as a means to control markets. Competition between ports was minimal and port-related costs were relatively insignificant in comparison to the high cost of ocean transport and inland transport. As a result, there was little incentive to improve port efficiency.
How times have changed! Most ports today are competing with one another on a global scale and, with the tremendous gains in productivity in ocean transport achieved over the past several decades, ports are now perceived to be the remaining controllable component in improving the efficiency of ocean transport logistics. This has generated the drive today to improve port efficiency, lower cargo handling costs, and integrate port services with other components of the global distribution network. Because of the capital intensity of such efficiency improvements, these have also generated the drive to unbind ports from the bureaucratic control of public entities and encourage private sector operation of a wide range of port-related activities.
Overview of the Competitive Landscape
Rivalry among Existing Competitors
Ability to Service Transshipment Trade
Regional Port Capacity and Demand
Ability to Create Competition within the Port
Limits on Rivalry within Ports
Government Willingness to Subsidize Operations
Capital Expenditure for New Port Facilities
Provisions in Operating Agreements
Cost Advantages and Customer Loyalties
Potential for Global Substitutes
Other Global Sources for Products Moving through the Port
Substitute Products for Exports and Imports
Magnitude of Switching Costs for Substitution
Demand Elasticity of Exports and Imports
Importance of Port Costs in Total Delivered Price
Bargaining Power of Port Users
Concentration of Port User Power
Impact of Changing Business Relationships
Presence of Large Value-Adding Tenants
Importance of Port to the Economy
Ability to Replicate Port Services
Facility Investments by Port Users
Bargaining Power of Service Providers
Experience and Capabilities of Service Providers
Participation in Facility Financing
Interrelationships between Providers and Port Users
Rights and Obligations Conveyed by Contractual Agreements
Port Dynamics in the 21st Century
Increased Sourcing Alternatives
Impact of Globalization on Ports
Containerization of World Trade
Need for Container Port Productivity Improvements
Growing Role of Information Technology
Port Requirements for Large Cruise Ships
Other Technology Affecting Port Services
Consolidation among Ocean Carriers
Emergence of Global Logistics Service Providers
Changing Distribution Patterns
Inland Container Terminals Shifting Activities from the Port
Environmental and Safety Concerns
Growing Environmental Concerns
Impact of Changing Dynamics on Ports
Transferring Port Operations to the Private Sector
Impact of Privatizing Operations
Lessons Learned from Past Privatizations
Opportunities for the Private Sector
Environmental Facilities and Ship Safety
Box 1: The Competitive Landscape
Box 2: Checklist of Key Questions for Positioning in the Global Port Market
Box 3: Load Centers Competing for the Gulf Market
Box 4: Intraport Competition in the European Union
Box 5: Reebok Logistics Center in the Maasvlakte Distripark
Box 6: Enlarging Venezuelan Export Markets of Coal and Crude Oil
Box 7: Suppliers to Container Terminal
Box 8a: Evolution of Containerized Shipping
Box 8b: Evolution of Containerized Shipping (continued)
Box 9: Development of Container Vessel Sizes as a Percentage of the Global Fleet
Box 10: Ships on Order as of September 2005
Box 11: Evolution of Cellular Fleet
Box 12: Future Containerships Require Increasingly Larger Cranes
Box 13a: Impact on Port Productivity of Unit Voyage Cost of Large Containerships
Box 13b: Impact of Port Productivity...(continued)
Box 14: Ceres Paragon Terminal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Box 15: Port User Information Network
Box 16: Felixstowe Cargo Processing System (FCPS)
Box 17: Physical Requirements to Accept Cruise Ships
Box 18: Podded Electric Drive Impact on Requirements for Ship Assist in Port
Box 19: Top 10 Container Carriers as of June 2006
Box 20: Worldwide Container Traffic
Box 21: Global Terminal Operators 2005 Throughput League Table
Box 22: Key Milestones of Hutchison Port Holdings in the 1990s
Box 23a: Hub and Spoke Container Distribution
Box 23b: Hub and Spoke Container Distribution (continued)
Box 24: Hub Options on the Asia–Europe Route
Box 25: Duisburg Inland Container Terminals
Box 26: How a Major Transshipment Terminal and Pretty Bay Beach Coexist
Box 27: The Green Award Initiative
Box 28: Estimated Available Market in the Port Sector
Box 29: The Port of Hong Kong—Why is it so Successful?
Box 30: Ballast Water Treatment Plant in the Port of Portland
Box 30b: Ballast Water Treatment Plant...(continued)
Box 31: Middle East Navigation Aids Service
Box 32: Checklist for Negotiating a Terminal Privatization
Box 32b: Checklist...(continued)
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