The Performance of Seaport Clusters - RePub - Erasmus Universiteit ...

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The Performance of Seaport Clusters
Table 51 shows the results of a question to rank six intermediaries from 1 (most important)
to 6 (least important).
Table 51: Ranking of the importance of intermediaries in the three cases, N=95
Intermediary LMPC Rotterdam Durban
Forwarders 3.0 2.0* 2.6
Ship’s agents 3.3 3.0 2.6
Associations 85 3.5 4.0 3.3
Commodity traders 2.9** 4.2 4.0
Shipbrokers 3.3 4.4 4.0
Non asset owning LSP’s 4.7* 2.9** 4.1
Scale of 1 (most important) to 6 (least important)
* Significantly more/less important than other intermediaries in same cluster
** Significantly more important than in other cluster
The following conclusions can be drawn on the basis of these figures:
• Forwarders are regarded as the most important intermediaries, because they ‘control
cargo’. The presence of forwarders increases performance because they improve the
position of a port in a logistics chain.
• Commodity traders are relatively important in the LMPC. This is explained by the fact
that this cluster is strong in commodities that are frequently traded, such as grains,
coffee and steel.
• Non-asset owning logistics service providers are especially important in Rotterdam’s
port cluster. This can be explained by the fact that Rotterdam, and the Netherlands as a
whole, has a strong position in logistics. Given the continuous restructuring of logistics
chains, ‘chain orchestrators’ (LSP’s) are regarded as important for the performance of
Rotterdam’s port cluster.
85 An association is the only non-profit intermediary. Therefore the importance of this intermediary
is hard to compare with the others.