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PORTS
bordering the Mediterranean Sea are expected
to have recorded three to six per cent growth
in 2013, compared to around 3.3 per cent
growth at global container ports.
Transshipment
volumes at key Mediterranean hubs are predicted
to have risen by an average of more than
eight per cent, with a number of ports showing
even higher growth rates, according to Drewry's
Container Insight Weekly's preliminary estimates.
The
researchers attribute the increases experienced
at west Mediterranean hubs to greater relay
transshipment activity, albeit there has
been recovery in feeder volumes to and from
the Black Sea and North Africa for central
Med hubs.
This
comes as container shipping lines have been
rationalising their service networks and
replacing direct services to and from West
Africa with transshipment from ever larger
east-west mother ships passing through the
Mediterranean.
Of
the eight ports handling in excess of one
million TEU annually of transshipment traffic,
all but one (Valencia) recorded growth,
with volumes increasing by more than the
market average.
Several
saw double-digit transshipment volume growth:
Piraeus, Tanger Med, Gioia Tauro and Ambarli.
This
was a marked contrast to the hub ports handling
less than one million TEU annually, most
of which were in negative territory in 2013,
with the only significant winners being
Cagliari and Sines (the latter is not actually
in the Mediterranean, but performs a similar
role to west Med hubs).
Clearly
the smaller hubs are suffering from lack
of scale, changes in alliance make-ups,
as well as specific weaknesses in some cases
such as vessel size/draft restrictions in
Damietta.
The
three ports which achieved the highest growth
in estimated transshipment traffic in 2013
were Sines with 76 per cent, Tanger Med
(38 per cent) and Piraeus (19 per cent),
all of which have direct or indirect links
with the major ocean liners.
The
central Mediterranean and west Med sub-regions
showed the strongest growth last year with
12.3 per cent and 10.2 per cent, respectively.
The
east Mediterranean sub-region saw a decrease
of five per cent, although, East Port Said
achieved nine per cent growth. It is home
to APM Terminals' Suez Canal Container Terminal,
the largest hub port handling 60 per cent
of the sub-region's volumes.
In
Drewry's view, bigger east-west ships and
larger container shipping alliances are
likely to continue to allow key transshipment
hub ports in the Mediterranean to outperform
underlying organic market growth by serving
regions well beyond the Mediterranean through
relay.
As
for the smaller hubs, they will find it
harder to compete unless they can find a
niche - or a large shipping line to back
them.
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