Profit margins of terminal operators remain healthy, but risk is on the up and returns are declining as the industry enters maturity.
The latest edition of Drewry’s quarterly port sector report Ports & Terminals Insight analyses the extent to which container terminal operators have managed to weather the “perfect storm” that Drewry identified as facing them some 18 months ago. They faced an unprecedented set of challenges to their profitability and returns, as shown in Figure 1, with a real danger that margins and returns would be markedly reduced in the coming years.
A year and a half on from this potential doomsday-like prognosis, how has the industry coped?
