Over the course of the global economic recovery in 2010, the shipping industry reactivated routes that had been temporarily halted in 2009, opened new routes and cautiously expanded its capacity.
Yet although this recovery has been strong in emerging countries, it is still uneven in industrialized nations, particularly those in the European Union, where economic health has been weakened by the financial difficulties of some of its member countries, such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. The United States is also struggling to maintain solid growth, and both of these markets are critical for ports on North America’s East Coast.
This means that goods manufactured in Asia, the Indian subcontinent and Central America largely account for the recovery reported by ports in 2010, and 2011 should follow the same trend for major shipping routes, notably those in the Mediterranean and the West Indies.
As was the case in 2010, the cost factor will likely continue to outweigh the time factor in customers’ selection of choice of routes in 2011. The biggest challenge ports will face is controlling costs through greater efficiency and optimum flow, not only in the marine segment, but also in the complete transportation logistics chain.
It’s time to ensure that road and rail partners alike work in synergy with ports to provide global high-quality services, and for government authorities to support these efforts by investing in the development of new infrastructure that will be needed to handle market growth.