Port Investment

 Public ports have staked their current and future success on more than $12 billion in investments in port infrastructure and facilities. Port revenue bonds—rather than taxpayer dollars—primarily funded these investments. Port revenue bonds are retired through revenues, user fees and tariff charges paid principally by PMSA member companies, and are beneficial to the public and private sectors.  As a model public-private partnership, these port infrastructure investments have come to symbolize how well-planned and beneficiary-financed transportation infrastructure can benefit both commerce and the public alike.

As a matter of strategic development policy, many ports encourage the co-development of various value-added services through franchising, licensing, and incentive leasing. Today, ports seek to attract enterprises that extend their logistics chains or provide them with specialized capabilities to add value to cargoes that are stored and handled in the port. General services that many ports attempt to develop include chandelling, ship repair, container maintenance, marine appraisals, insurance claims inspections, and banking.

The outcomes of investing in logistics capabilities are numerous, but are mainly increased integration with global trade and supply chains, better utilization of national transport assets, more competitive exports, and lower costs for imports, as well as increased employment opportunities. For freight distribution, the conventional approach of investing in infrastructure alone is now perceived to be insufficient; rather investment should be made in a wider framework that includes the supporting activities of logistics.

In total volume terms, the bulk shipping of commodities still dominates global trade and it is the role of China that singularly stands out. As its economy expanded rapidly over the last decade, this led to an unprecedented demand for vast amounts of raw materials to feed the country’s industrial growth. Even in 2009 when...