Like shipping lines, the world’s port operators made huge investments in terminals prior to the credit crisis and subsequent global slump at a time when container volumes were growing faster than 10 percent a year. Photo shows Port of Antwerp, Belgium.
Harbors in northern Europe including Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam, the continent’s top three, will increase annual capacity 21 percent to 62.2 million standard 20-foot containers by 2015, according to data compiled by M.M. Warburg & Co.
Handling fees charged by port operators including Hamburger Hafen & Logistik AG and DP World Ltd. (DPW) may fall as new docks come on stream, Warburg analyst Christian Cohrs said. Europe will be hit harder than other regions as the sovereign debt crisis weighs on economic growth, stunting demand for imported goods.