China traffic controls world port growth
The influence of China's exports is remarkable. The sheer weight of the mainland container numbers is driving the investment strategies of ports around the world and even changing the face of established trade lanes.
Just last week, the Georgia Ports Authority announced that it was spending US$1.2 billion on preparing its ports for the continued cascade of container traffic from Asia, with most boxes coming from China. More than 70 percent of Savannah's throughput is Asia traffic.
Capital investment of this size is incredible when you consider that it is almost a quarter of the giant investment the Panama Canal will spend in the construction of a third set of locks. The port of New York-New Jersey is spending even more: $2 billion over 10 years.
Across the US, huge effort and capital over the past few years has gone into improving efficiency and handling capacity at the San Pedro Bay port complex of Los Angeles-Long Beach. With 70 percent of all containers imported into the US passing through its terminals, the pressure is intense for LA-Long Beach to stay ahead of the box curve.
The pressures may not be as great at other gateway ports across the US and Europe, but no one is taking chances. Most ports are near capacity and even a slight surge in peak season volume will see ships beginning to line up.
Investment in berths requires new equipment and this is creating a gold rush atmosphere in the offices of port equipment suppliers such as Kalmar. The Swiss manufacturer is making cranes and RTGs as fast as possible.
Trade lanes are shifting as shipping lines reposition equipment in response to changing trade patterns. In Africa, the traditional Europe-South Africa trade is being overtaken by trade with Asia and ports south of the Sahara are scrambling to improve capacity and efficiency to capture these Asian boxes. The race for regional hub status is on.
But jacking up the handling capacity of a port is pointless without a working intermodal system to clear boxes and get them inland. These problems are being grappled with in places like Africa, where high logistics costs and inefficient road and rail networks frustrate growth. Unfortunately for them, infrastructure shortcomings are only solved by huge piles of money.
Just last week, the Georgia Ports Authority announced that it was spending US$1.2 billion on preparing its ports for the continued cascade of container traffic from Asia, with most boxes coming from China. More than 70 percent of Savannah's throughput is Asia traffic.
Capital investment of this size is incredible when you consider that it is almost a quarter of the giant investment the Panama Canal will spend in the construction of a third set of locks. The port of New York-New Jersey is spending even more: $2 billion over 10 years.
Across the US, huge effort and capital over the past few years has gone into improving efficiency and handling capacity at the San Pedro Bay port complex of Los Angeles-Long Beach. With 70 percent of all containers imported into the US passing through its terminals, the pressure is intense for LA-Long Beach to stay ahead of the box curve.
The pressures may not be as great at other gateway ports across the US and Europe, but no one is taking chances. Most ports are near capacity and even a slight surge in peak season volume will see ships beginning to line up.
Investment in berths requires new equipment and this is creating a gold rush atmosphere in the offices of port equipment suppliers such as Kalmar. The Swiss manufacturer is making cranes and RTGs as fast as possible.
Trade lanes are shifting as shipping lines reposition equipment in response to changing trade patterns. In Africa, the traditional Europe-South Africa trade is being overtaken by trade with Asia and ports south of the Sahara are scrambling to improve capacity and efficiency to capture these Asian boxes. The race for regional hub status is on.
But jacking up the handling capacity of a port is pointless without a working intermodal system to clear boxes and get them inland. These problems are being grappled with in places like Africa, where high logistics costs and inefficient road and rail networks frustrate growth. Unfortunately for them, infrastructure shortcomings are only solved by huge piles of money.
