SHIPPERS are still driven by costs rather than environmental ethics, says Tom Vermeiren senior manager of financial consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Speaking at the TOC Europe 2015 in Rotterdam, Mr Vermeiren said cost was still the primary driver of shippers' decisions adding that container lines still continued to choose the ports with significant volumes because they need to fill their increasingly large ships and seek the lowest prices.
Reflecting the results of a survey of European shippers, he noted that except for companies selling consumer goods, there was little evidence that shippers were changing their behaviour and switching from road to rail and barge.
Road pricing might change their attitudes, but first the European Union would have to ensure equal conditions for road pricing across the continent.
Recent development of intermodal supply chains has been motivated by economic considerations as well as concern for the environment, he said.
"Intermodal inland transport systems are not there just because of some green logic. They are the fishing rod that ports and terminals use to catch hinterland volumes, which are then the bait used to attract big ocean carriers to their ports," he said.
Separately, Jesper Praestensgaard, of Boston Consulting, said oversupply in container shipping was likely to continue until 2019, keeping freight rates low, and that this should be incorporated in business strategies.
Commercial manager of DCT Gdansk, Dominik Landa, said the reason for the recent fast growth in volumes at the Polish container terminal was that shippers to the growing markets of Eastern Europe wanted to get their goods closer to their final destination.
He said that since DCT started operating in 2007, the size of container ships had increased so dramatically that the owners had already started work on a second terminal, to accommodate 18,000 TEU-plus ships, which would be opened next year.
WORLD SHIPPING
17 June 2015 - 07:25
Shippers say costs trump environmental concerns: PwC survey
SHIPPERS are still driven by costs rather than environmental ethics, says Tom Vermeiren senior manager of financial consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
WORLD SHIPPING
17 June 2015 - 07:25
Shippers say costs trump environmental concerns: PwC survey
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