Dynamar has recently issued its Container Markets and Trades series and the fourth biennial edition of the East & Southern Africa Container Trades. Salient details and some of the interesting findings of this study are discussed in this paper for PTI. Dynamar’s biennial East & Southern Africa Container Trades studies alternate with similarly structured reports on the West Africa container trade, although they both cover Sub-Saharan Africa, two quite different trades are concerned.
WEST AFRICA
West Africa is clearly moving in the direction of maturation. Compared to East Africa, ships are bigger, there are more carriers and there is a substantial presence of international port operators. Currently, 112 box ships sail the core Asia-West Africa routes. Deployed by ten different carriers, their average capacity is 5,300 TEU, with the biggest ship measuring no less than 13,100 TEU. The service employing the largest units is a veritable hub-and-spoke operation, connecting the Lomé hub with a large…
