With
Europe
seeing increases in imports from Asia
rising at the same level as the US,
supply chains across the continent are being
increasingly challenged by bottlenecks at
major ports, similar or worse than those
seen in Long
Beach
in 2005. Plans to ease these delays through
port expansion are being thwarted by maneuvers
from environmental groups and others, a
Wall Street Journal article reported last
week, meaning logistics costs are likely
to increase in Europe
for ocean carriers and importers.
In Q1 2007,
73% of container ships arrived late in European
ports. That was up from 45% in Q1 2006,
according to a report by Drewry Shipping
Consultants. In March alone, Rotterdam delayed
or completely sent away more than 30 ships
and 50,000 containers, adding tremendous
cost to carriers that will eventually be
passed on to importers through higher rates.
These delays also add variability to the
supply chains of the importers that negatively
impact inventory levels, planning and customer
service.
While
environmental and NIMBY (Not in my Backyard)
protests have also delayed port expansion
in the US,
the effect has been comparatively mild compared
to that in Europe.
Meanwhile, China
uses state control to sweep away opposition
to port construction or expansion –
sometimes by sending protestors to jail
or labor camps.
It’s
a much different story in Antwerp,
Belgium,
Europe’s
largest port. There, opposition from a loose
confederation of environmentalists and others
opposed to the planned destruction of a
historic (but until recently largely empty)
village has indefinitely delayed expansion
plans.
The village
was originally slated for destruction to
make way for new terminals in 1998. Nearly
10 years later it still stands. Though demolition
is now scheduled for this August, it’s
not clear the opposition won’t create
new roadblocks.
In
Rotterdam, Netherlands, a combination of
forces including environmentalists and a
fishermen's association have used the courts
and EU law to delay a new $3.4 billion terminal
that port authorities had hoped to start
building in 2002.
Meanwhile,
port authorities in Hamburg, Germany have
plans to making parts of the Elbe River
deeper so the port can handle larger container
ships. The project has been stalled because
of opposition from environmental activists
and a group called Save the Elbe.
“With
China planning to spend $54 billion in the
next 10 years on building and expanding
ports, the mismatch between its capacity
to ship and Europe's ability to receive
goods is growing fast,” the Wall Street
Journal notes. |