Ports as strategic assets - European Sea Ports Organisation 1 Olaf Merk.pdf · Ports as strategic...
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Ports as strategic assets Olaf Merk ESPO Annual Conference 2 June 2017, Barcelona, Spain
Transcript of Ports as strategic assets - European Sea Ports Organisation 1 Olaf Merk.pdf · Ports as strategic...
Ports as strategic assets
Olaf Merk
ESPO Annual Conference
2 June 2017, Barcelona, Spain
Ports are strategic assets
… for a stronger, greener, fairer, smarter Europe
• A powerful geopolitical tool
• Catalyst for climate change mitigation
• Generator of employment and social cohesion
• A testing bed for innovation
Within a dynamic global-local interaction
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Ports as catalysts for climate mitigation
Could ports be the tail that wags the dog?
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Strategic climate change incentives by ports
Three levers: dues, concessions, berth allocation
Port dues:– Lower port dues if ship reduced speed in territorial waters (Long Beach)
– Not only local pollutants, also carbon (Sweden): adapt criteria ESI, GreenAward
– Not only bonus, also malus. So more coordination between ports needed
Port concessions and procurement:– Carbon emissions as one of criteria for port concessions (terminals, towage).
– Related: carbon targets for EU funding of port infrastructure
Berth allocation: – Clean ship jumps queue (Panama)
Put such incentives in IMO 2018 Initial GHG Strategy
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Ports as a strategic geopolitical tool to…
• …prioritise own and strategic supply chains
(preferential berthing)
• …block supply chains of foreign nations (via
port closures or more subtle measures)
• …provide services to naval vessels
(provisioning, bunkering, ship repair)
Becoming increasingly relevant in current context
(“We are on our own now” – Angela Merkel)
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Ports and geopolitics: current state
• Growing divergence of Chinese participation in
EU ports and EU participation in Chinese ports
• Emerging ambition of Chinese state-owned
companies in foreign terminal operations.
• Asymmetry in allowed foreign ownership
shares
• Privatisation of port authority functions
• Increased inter-relation of carriers and
terminals (and terminal joint ventures)
obfuscating matters
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Growing divergence
Chinese state-owned capacity in EU: 8.6 mln TEU
7
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2003 2016
Private China State-owned China
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2003 2016
Private EU State-owned EU
Chinese terminal stakes in Europe European terminal stakes in China
Source: ITF/OECD elaborations based on Drewry
Asymmetry foreign ownership shares
No European majority stakes in Chinese ports
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Chinese terminal stakes in Europe European terminal stakes in China
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
0 2 4 6 8
Terminal capacity (mln TEUs) Terminal capacity (mln TEUs)
Source: ITF/OECD elaborations based on Drewry
Vertical integration (carriers-terminals)
Carrier-owned terminals have 38% market share of terminal capacity
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0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Other
GTOs
Carriers
Source: ITF/OECD elaborations based on Drewry
Horizontal integration
Top 4 carriers have 50% market share of container ship capacity
10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Market
sh
are c
on
tain
er l
ines (
%)
Top 4 Top 10
Source: ITF/OECD elaborations based on data from Alphaliner
Links between carriers and terminals
• Will carrier consolidation lead to trend of ports
replacing multi-user terminals with carrier-
driven terminals because they “bring cargo”?
• So an easy target for quickly expanding
carrier-driven terminal operators?
• Acquisition of even a small share in a carrier
could give a foreign state a majority share in
the terminals owned by the carrier
• E.g. CMA CGM and Terminal Link
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How to be more strategic?
• Reciprocity in market access to port operations?
• Are ports less strategic than airline sector? They
have maximum 49% foreign ownership.
• A list of strategic regulatory port functions that
should not be privatised?
• Towards a network of global ports essential to
EU supply chains or naval interests? Network
formed by the foreign stakes of EU public ports
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