The still before the storm

Last year passenger car sales in the EU grew for the sixth year in a row and reached 15.3m units, an increase of 1.2% on the previous year, but the rate of increase has been dropping since 2015. Vehicle output in the EU was sustained but has actually dropped by 5.4% down to 15.8m, according to figures from the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA).

Looking at figures from the top ten continental European vehicle handling ports, both imports and exports are down, and while some of that is because of lower sales, vehicle terminals remain full thanks to longer dwell times. That is being exacerbated by the fact that some carmakers are pushing volumes from the factories to the ports and only then assessing cost-benefits for onward multimodal options. This has impacted throughput rates.

The vehicles being transported are getting bigger and more diverse in their mix. They are being loaded and unloaded onto bigger vessels as operators look for greater efficiency in response to the squeeze on rates and the search for lower emissions per unit in the wake of new sulphur emissions regulations mandated by the International Maritime Organization.

Vehicle terminals are also carrying out more sophisticated pre-delivery services at the ports, increasing dwell times, and as electric vehicle (EV) sales increase there are additional requirements for charging and safety checks. Other factors include workforce availability, shift planning, berth availability and hinterland connectivity.

In 2019 political protest also played its part in arresting throughput at certain ports in France and Spain.

What is clear from activity in 2019, however, is that port authorities and vehicle terminal operators are working hard to add capacity and use the latest digital technology to improve volume throughput. That is something that will now be put to the test as vehicle manufacturing tentatively restarts following the shutdowns caused by coronavirus.

Belgium and Germany

Europe’s biggest vehicle-handling port, Zeebrugge, has been working on a number of infrastructure projects to add capacity and speed up processing. In terms of IT, work continued in 2019 on the rollout of Zeebrugge’s RX/Seaport data-sharing platform and rollout of its 5G network, which is designed to be used by a range of port-based companies for dispatching and track-and-trace systems (see the article on Zeebrugge for more detail).

One of the biggest developments that got underway in 2019 involved talks between Zeebrugge and the neighbouring port of Antwerp, continental Europe’s fourth-biggest port. The ports already collaborate on certain projects but established competition is seen to have held back a stronger alliance that could bring benefits for vehicle and container throughput in the future.

Numbers were slightly down at the main German vehicle handling ports of Bremerhaven and Emden, though Emden reported a significant 14% rise in imports. Emden is reliant on VW Group volumes, which continue to be impacted by fallout from the OEM’s diesel scandal and the consequent introduction of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). It is also making preparations to handle more EVs as VW converts its Emden and Hannover plants to focus on these vehicles from 2022.

BLG Logistics, which operates Europe’s second-biggest vehicle-handling port, Bremerhaven, has also been working to support VW and in 2019 converted a former truck facility at Dodendorf in central Germany into a storage facility for VW volumes on route to the port. While inland, the 75,000 sq.m will be used as a buffer zone for VW volumes coming from the carmaker’s facilities in Germany that are destined for export from Bremerhaven.

“If the parking spaces at the seaport are occupied, the car manufacturer can conveniently park their vehicles in Dodendorf,” said the company in its most recent annual report. “The location [is supported] with its own rail link and convenient location between the VW plants in Wolfsburg and Zwickau.”

At Cuxhaven, there were headaches caused by fluctuations in throughput caused by the UK’s departure from the EU being delayed twice, meaning that volumes and delivery schedules changed enormously (see the following focus on Zeebrugge for more detail).

Spain and France

As can be seen from our focus on the Spanish ports in this supplement, while northern European ports continued to be hampered by a lack of capacity, with slower throughput a factor, carmakers were looking to Spain as a quicker point of continental entry and exit, in 2019, something supported by improving hinterland rail and road connections. At the same time, Spain maintained production thanks to a resilient export trade, supported by efforts to increase terminal capacity and improve throughput. Overall vehicle exports from Spain grew 0.2% to 2.3m units, though passenger cars (sedans) were down marginally by 0.3% to 1.8m.