THE ANALYSIS OF THE SPECIFICS OF CONTAINERISED CARGO MOVEMENTS ON “CHINA-BALTIC STATES” SHIPPING ROUTE

Abstract

Maritime industry is a very important economic sector and it has a direct impact on the prosperity of the Baltic States. World containerised cargo turnover increases approximately by 10% each year, but “China-Europe/Asia” trade has increased dramatically in recent years, and imports from China are significant. For Baltic States it is very important mainly because they have transit ports for containerised cargoes shipped from China to CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries and about 80% of containerised cargoes handled in ports of Baltic States are transit flows.

But in terms of future prospects, Baltic States could lose a lot of containerised transit cargo flows because of the strong competition between ports and clear-cut ascendancy of alternative routes. Therefore, it is particularly relevant for the Baltic States to develop such competitive transit container freight traffic management schemes that would keep the existing and attract the new flows of containerised goods through the ports of the Baltic States.

Thereby, the objective of this research is identification of factors, which determine the specifics of the containerised cargo ship movements between sea ports with the stress on “China – Baltic States” shipping route and identification of the competitive advantages and disadvantages of this route as opposed to other routes (railway mode of transportation from China through Kazakhstan territory and shipments from China to Russian Far Eastern sea ports coupled with railway transportation through Russian territory).

The principles on which the selection of the above-mentioned factors has been done are presented in this paper. Herewith, the methods of multivariate statistical analysis are used for the systemization process. The deep and detailed analysis of routes, the specifics of services, and the “main market players” has been done.

An integral, comprehensive view on the specifics of containerised cargo ship movements between sea ports on “China–Baltic States” trade line has been created. The results allow to evaluate the formation laws of containerised cargo shipments on “China–Baltic States” trade line, to understand the variability dynamics of cargo flows inside mentioned network, to determine the invariance of network. Furthermore the identification of definitive competitive advantages and disadvantages of this route as opposed to other routes has been accomplished (difference in delivery lead-times, difference in price level for transportations of standard and overweight cargoes).

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.em.18.4.5067