APM: Eastern Europe is the fastest growing container market

Need of solutions for timely working of Ultra-Large Containerships with more than 10,000 TEU capacity has become more urgent
 
Ben Vree, APM Terminals Europe Region CEO, cited healthy projected volume increases in Eastern Europe and the increasingly important Russian market as bright spots in an otherwise gloomy outlook for European container market growth as a keynote speaker at the TOC Container Supply Chain Conference Europe event at the port industry’s largest annual European conference. Dramatic increases in berth and crane productivity through the use of new automation will also prove to be a deciding factor in terminal operators’ success at established European hub ports with the introduction of the newest 18,000+ TEU class vessels on the Far East/Europe trade lane. 
 
“Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of area, 9th by population and 6th globally in terms of national GDP, but Russian ports handled less than five million TEUs last year” noted Mr. Vree, adding “clearly this will change, particularly with Russia’s joining of the World Trade Organization”. 
 
The most recent industry analyst forecasts have identified Eastern Europe as the fastest-growing global region in terms of container volume, with 7.3% growth projected for 2013, followed by 6.7% for the Middle East, and Southeast Asia at 6.1%. By contrast, North European ports have been forecast to grow at an annualized rate of 0.8% for the year, against a projected overall global growth rate of between 6%-7%. 
 
Growth in the global container fleet, however, continues to surge, with vessels of 10,000 TEU capacity and above representing at 106 vessels, a quarter of all new container ships on order, and half of additional global fleet capacity. As terminal productivity has not kept pace with overall volume growth, the need for solutions for timely working of Ultra-Large Containerships such as the newly launched 18,000 TEU capacity Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, or the five 18,400 TEU vessels ordered this month by China Shipping, has become more urgent.
 
APM Terminals’ Global Terminal Network of ports and inland services provide the infrastructure for the growth of international trade, 90% of which travels by sea. With world headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, the company’s core expertise is the design, construction, management and operation of ports, terminals and inland services, 
 
operating a Global Terminal Network of 20,000 employees in 68 countries including interests in 70 port and terminal facilities and over 170 Inland Services operations.

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