The Analyst – Page 4
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NewsBattle of hinterland expansion
COMMENT: Many port development companies, including port authorities, develop commercial strategies which guide their commercial and investment activities. One common ambition in those strategies is the aim to expand the hinterland, writes Peter de Langen.
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NewsRealities of 'working waterfront' visions
COMMENT: The inevitable is likely to happen to the Red Hook Container Terminal in Brooklyn, New York, writes Peter de Langen.
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Safe as houses
COMMENT: In November, Associated British Ports (ABP), the UK’s leading port operator, launched its transformed property arm with a 960-hectare land bank, marking a further step in the gradual transition of the group from port operator to a development company of port, logistics and manufacturing complexes in 21 UK ports, ...
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Tales of the unexpected
COMMENT: In May 2016 a lease agreement was signed between Feadship, a leading builder of mega-yachts, and Port of Amsterdam (PoA). Yet, Amsterdam’s vision document, officially launched a year earlier in June 2015 did not mention mega-yachts as a potentially relevant market segment, writes Peter de Langen.
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NewsLengthy path to success
COMMENT: This year saw positive news for the two large new port development projects in North West Europe: JadeWeserPort and London Gateway, writes Peter de Langen.
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Geopolitics and port development
COMMENT: Port development often has an important geopolitical dimension, writes Peter de Langen
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State aid exemptions miss the mark
COMMENT: The long-awaited European Union policy on government investments in seaports and airports has both high and low points. The sad part is that the high points are mainly centred around airports, while the seaport part takes the lion’s share of low points, writes Peter de Langen.
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Forget business as usual
COMMENT: It is increasingly clear that car transport is at the brink of radical changes, driven by technological advances in autonomous driving and changing ownership patterns of cars, writes Peter de Langen.
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NewsBold move on coal
COMMENT: Last month, Port of Amsterdam took a bold move for a landlord port authority: it announced its ambition to end handling coal by 2030, writes Peter de Langen.
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NewsThe value of connectivity
COMMENT: Ports create value for port users and thus also for society at large because they enable connections between consumers in the hinterland and producers overseas, and vice versa, writes Peter de Langen.
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Shipping and the physical internet
COMMENT: The term ‘physical internet’ has emerged in recent years as a metaphor for the future of freight transport. While the metaphor possibly obscures more than it enlightens, it nevertheless makes sense to explore the implications for ocean shipping, writes Peter de Langen.
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The benefits of togetherness
COMMENT: In fully private markets, the ‘invisible hand’ ensures the survival of the fittest, writes Peter de Langen.
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Dealing in intermodal truths
COMMENT: The Inland Terminal conference in Basel in November brought together an interesting mix of stakeholders in intermodal logistics. I shared with delegates some of the findings of research on intermodal connections, based on a database developed by Intermodal Links, writes Peter de Langen.
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NewsMeasuring value at city ports
COMMENT: Should port development differ between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas? Definitely, in my view, writes Peter de Langen.
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NewsSense of green port dues
COMMENT: In a recent academic conference in Hamburg, various papers addressed differentiated port dues for green ships partly to address the European Commission’s evident favouritism of such an approach, writes Peter de Langen.
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NewsValue in port clusters
COMMENT: It is increasingly understood that ports are spatial clusters of interrelated economic activities, such as chemical plants, energy plants, construction plants (for instance for components of offshore wind installations), warehouses, and terminals as well as a variety of business services, writes Peter de Langen.
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NewsCruising for better port pricing
Cruises are increasingly relevant in port development so taking a look at pricing can be insightful, writes Peter de Langen.
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NewsBalancing public with private
COMMENT: Associated British Ports, the leading UK port developer and operator, announced a masterplan through to 2035 for one of its ports, Newport in Wales, writes Peter de Langen.
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Commercial not political decision-making
COMMENT: Port reform processes gradually lead to a port industry where port authorities remain under government ownership, but have autonomy, are financially self-sustaining and operate as port development companies, writes Peter de Langen.
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NewsTapping into growth potential
COMMENT: A quick way to get an understanding of the development potential of the ports industry in a country is to look at the throughput per capita, writes Peter de Langen.
