News / Fears over future container terminal capacity as investors get cold feet

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Declining returns on invested capital (ROIC) in the container port sector has led to fewer terminal projects and fears that capacity may become increasing limited.

According to Neil Davidson, director of ports at analyst Drewry, while ebitda levels and margins for terminal operators have remained relatively resilient over the past decade, “average ROIC has declined from 8.3% in 2008 to 5.5% last year”.

“A direct consequence of this is the current low level of greenfield port projects and global projected capacity expansion at just 2%, ...