ECG — 2024-11-27
News from ECG
The times they are a changin. And for port and terminal operators in Europe, its either to accept that the flows have changed, adapt to the new demands of the market or indeed believe firmly that the tides will change again, though how soon is anyone’s guess.
The main flow used to be exports from Europe sent around the world. Car production was centred in Europe - French brands produced in France and German brands in Germany. They shipped their cars from the ports in France and Germany to markets all over the world. But times they are changing.
“The ratio has flipped but we are still more than 50% export. It used to be 80% export and 20% import. But we are seeing imports increasing,” says Axel Bantel, head of automotive at BLG Logistics speaking of the BLG Terminal at Bremerhaven.
At the HAROPA ports in France, Bruno Peisey laments: “Now in Le Havre around 80% is import while only 20% is export, as only a few factories are left in France. And import cargo takes more time at the port. Operators need to clean cars etc. and we still have a lack of truck drivers. Meanwhile in the 1990s it was almost 80% exports with just 20% imports. The product mix has changed.”
Even at ICO in Zeebrugge the trend is beginning to manifest. “It proved to be perfectly 50:50 for many years but now there is some change,” says Geert D’Hondt, Sales Manager, Marine & Terminal, International Car Operators.
So how does a port manage its capacity when imports take time? “You tell me your dwell time and I’ll tell you my port capacity,” says Brian Steeds, Director of Automotive at Bristol Port. “Basically, dwell time is currently key to discussions on capacity. Export product is point-to-point but import product dwell time is variable.”
And this storage of volume coming in, sometimes for indefinite periods of time, is in-itself a new business case. At the Port of Piraeus, the Heracleous Terminal will begin operating as a car terminal in the new year. “We are not hoping to get more local cargo, but we are planning for, and getting, more transit cargo. That’s why we are creating more space as it was needed last year so our idea was to get the extra space to cover the expected cargo,” says Dimitrios Agrapidis of Piraeus Port SA.
“So, this is an extra 5,400 car spots in addition to the 6,700 car spots at our G2 Terminal,” says Eirini Vasileiou, deputy manager, RoRo Terminal, Port of Piraeus.
And it’s across the board. Capacity needed to avoid the congestion that has only just eased, but which is expected to return as imports increase and dwell time, especially for EVs, rises at ports across the region. And then there are the spate of wars that has added complexity to the mix.
“With the Red Sea crisis ships are coming via the Cape of Good Hope and not through the Mediterranean and many ports in the east Med are now served via transhipment from west Med ports,” explains Lluis Paris, head of Automotive, Port of Barcelona. “So this volume is consuming compound space.”
And then there are those cars arriving in containers. While ‘unstuffing’ from the container may take place in a multi-purpose terminal the car is then often moved to join the stock at the RoRo terminal. “We have to take into consideration that this car has not arrived in a RoRo ship, but is now in a RoRo terminal,” says Paris.
And is this going to stop? “I think it will disappear slower than what we expected, i.e. move from containers back to just RoRo, because we were all saying as soon as we have the big vessels it will disappear but it’s now 2024 September and it’s still growing,” says Anna Listeri, Manager, Automotive at the Port de Barcelona.
So congestion is part of the new normal? “Congestion is expected. That means we need overflow space for both imports and exports,” says Bantel of BLG Logistics. “Our core terminal has 70,000 capacity, we have also rented a space in Ahlorn. We have 8 multi-storeys distributed across the port, and we have a new multi-storey in consideration.”
And cars in containers? “We are fortunate in Bremerhaven as the container and RoRo terminals are in the same free zone. At the entrance we have the container freezone, so cars in containers can be stripped there and moved to the car terminal. This is a USP of Bremerhaven.”
But its all to do with location.
Autoport in Turkey is seeing strong exports. “The import and export rates generally fluctuate between 40% and 60%,” says Bilgin Isler, General Manager of Autoport Terminal Operators. “In the first half of 2024, despite market pressures from new regulations and high-interest rates, we have handled 183,000 vehicles, although we expect this momentum to decline in the second half of the year. Our year-end forecast is approximately 350,000 vehicles in 2024.”
And no, Autoport is firmly not interested in cars in containers. “Autoport is Turkey’s first specialized automotive terminal and we do not have container vessel traffic, we only accept Ro-Ro vessels for automotive traffic,” says Isler.
And at AET Terminal in Antwerp, Yves De Lariviere is strict about what is allowed at the RoRo Terminal and does not permit cars in containers. “No. We simply will not unstuff these containers here locally. We did not engage in that part of the trade possibility because this will only further suffocate the capacity of the terminal,” says Lariviere.
But AET Terminal at Antwerp is expanding with its new multi-storey car park starting full operations from January 2025. The terminal has existing car capacity of 69,000, but with the new 3 level multistorey: “The terminal was already huge, but we expanded now let’s say another 27% of our capacity.”
And capacity seems to be key. Increasing capacity at the quayside or even in the hinterland is a new business model as dwell times rise. “Congestion is expected. That means we need overflow space for both imports and exports,” explains Axel Bantel of BLG Logistics, “Future operating model has longer dwell time, no choice but to make an offsite base.”
As the import and export flow of new cars and vans to and from Europe has changed, port and terminal operators are grappling with a new changing reality. Congestion levels never seen before have given rise to a new way of thinking, that port and RoRo terminal operators might have to be more than just the entry and exit point for new cars. Capacity becomes key to cater to the changing demands of the market - with a jump in development of multi-storey and off-site storage locations.
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