Will Europe's new ports manage to break even?

© Khunaspix Dreamstime.

There is an almighty amount of new terminal capacity due to come on stream in Northern Europe over the next few years – two terminals at Rotterdam’s Maasvlatke II; the opening of Germany’s Wilhelmshaven; London Gateway; expansion of Hamburg’s terminals and the deepening of the Elbe… and analysts are worried there may not be enough cargo to go around, and that many ports will be unable to hit the 60% utilisation mark required to break even. Worrying times for the port industry.