Το θαλάσσιο εμπόριο του άνθρακα. Τα μεγαλύτερα λιμάνια διαχείρισης του. Μια συγκριτική παρουσίαση

Τσαβαλά, Αγγελική

Master Thesis

Author

Τσαβαλά, Αγγελική

Date

2015-10

Abstract

The foremost scope of this dissertation paper was the analysis of all the elements that compound the world seaborne coal trade, as well as the identification of all the major exporting and importing ports and terminals. In order for the above mentioned objective to be accomplished, the specification of the definition of coal, its mining and processing methods was rendered indispensable. What is more, the global industrial coal uses were specified so as to understand its function as a marketable commodity throughout the course of the transport logistics chain. The descriptive research was used as a research method herein, whereas as research tools in finding the major companies that manage and extract coal were their annual financial reports found online, while for the analysis of the port facilities, Shipping Publications were used, which constitute an important database in relation to all the technical characteristics of ports. According to the findings, the global seaborne trade of coal is on the increase in recent decades. Out of all coal trading countries studied, only seven constitute the main export sources, with Australia and Indonesia being first in the rank, the former on metallurgical coal exports and the latter on thermal coal exports. According to the findings, in most cases the largest mining companies in the exporting countries own and operate port terminals. Having located and evaluated all the individual companies and their market shares, it turned out that the largest of them operate in more than one country, thus controlling the global coal seaborne trade. Moreover, the largest exporting coal ports are located in Australia, as this country has terminals with state of the art equipment operating with the latest advanced technology in terms of both infrastructure and superstructure, unlike Indonesia, whose exports are carried out with barges and floating cranes at anchorages. China, Japan traditionally and India are included amongst the top coal importing countries. The increase in demand for raw materials from China, the rise of south-south trade and the increased flows among developing countries constitute the area of the Asia Pacific Basin the point of interest of the global maritime trade of coal. As far as import coal ports are concerned, Rotterdam in the European continent and Qinhuangdao in China are the main ports which conduct the international transshipment of coal. Based on the findings of this study, we propose as future objects of investigation the application of the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a statistical method which facilitates the location of ports and terminals which are more efficient compared to the less efficient ones, given the current use of their productive resources.

Postgraduate Studies Programme

Ναυτιλία

Department

Σχολή Ναυτιλίας και Βιομηχανίας. Τμήμα Ναυτιλιακών Σπουδών

Number of pages

178

Language

Greek

URI

https://dione.lib.unipi.gr/xmlui/handle/unipi/9214

Collections

Τμήμα Ναυτιλιακών Σπουδών

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