An infographic released by Dr Theo Notteboom of Port Economics shows the decrease in volumes for some of the main container ports in Northern Europe over a 30-year period between 1985 and H1, 2015.
Naturally, the volumes took a dip around the time of the financial crash of 2009 and have since begun to recover significantly.
The ports who saw the biggest decline around this period were Hamburg, who posted a 28% decline in volumes. Zebrugge has also seen a dip but interestingly, this occurred in H1, 2015.
To read a Technical Paper by Dr Notteboom on the containerised reefer trade, click here
According Dr Notteboom, container traffic volatility in individual ports is likely to increase in the coming years as a result of the general economic situation and the moderate growth seen in China.
While port performance has improved for many ports in recent years, there is still the issue of larger ships, which many ports have to adapt to.
As is the case in Europe, mega-ships have been dominating ports in 2015, as a result in the balance between container-handling capacity in the north and transhipment traffic in the Mediterranean.
Stay tuned for Dr Notteboom’s review of the European container port system in PTI’s upcoming mega-ports edition.
(Source: Dr Theo Notteboom / Port Economics)
