Economic importance of the Flemish maritime ports: Report 2002

TABLE 9 SUMMARY OF CHANGES IN EMPLOYMENT AT ANTWERP FROM 1995 TO 2002(continued)(FTE)Sectors:Indirect effects 43 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Relativeshare in2002(in p.c.)Changefrom 1995to 2002(in p.c.)Annualaveragechange(in p.c.)Total maritime ............. 25,335 25,698 26,683 26,238 24,059 26,242 24,512 21,214 32.0 - 16.3 - 2.5Total non-maritime ..... 40,222 41,638 41,707 43,128 45,387 45,243 48,004 45,050 68.0 12.0 1.6Indirects effects .......... 65,557 67,335 68,390 69,366 69,446 71,486 72,516 66,263 100.0 1.1 0.2Total employment....... 127,072 128,420 129,482 129,447 128,517 132,050 134,842 126,827 - - 0.2 0.0Source: NBB.General changesFrom 1995 to 2002, direct employment in the Antwerp port area declined slightly (- 1.5 p.c. – see table 9), whichis an annual average drop of 0.2 p.c. Over the same period, total employment (direct, including allocation andindirect) was stable, as the slight fall in direct employment was compensated for by the improvement in indirectemployment (+ 0.2 p.c. per annum on average). The trend to outsourcing was particularly marked in 2000, whenindirect employment increased by 2.9 p.c. and total employment by 2.7 p.c. Over the period in question, therecord year for direct employment for the port was 2001, with an increase of 2.9 p.c. compared to the year 2000.In 2002 the worst result in terms of change of total employment (- 5.9 p.c.) was recorded: direct employment fellby 2.8 p.c. and indirect employment by 8.6 p.c.With regard to subcontracting in terms of employment, the ratio between indirect employment and directemployment reached a peak in 2000 (118.0 p.c.), i.e. one year after this trend was seen at aggregated level. Thisratio also went above 115 p.c. from 1999 to 2001 and then fell back to 109.4 p.c. in 2002. This drop in indirectemployment was attributable particularly to the decline in employment in the car manufacturing and shipownersectors, which are heavily dependent on external manpower.Changes by cluster in direct effectsThe maritime cluster and the non-maritime industry segment are by far the best represented in the port ofAntwerp (table 9). The strongest improvement recorded for employment was in 2001 (+ 2.9 p.c.). Employmentthen peaked with 62,326 FTE, of which 21,685 FTE for the maritime cluster and 28,673 FTE for the industrysegment. The logistics services segment was the one with the strongest growth in terms of employment from1995 to 2002 (+ 27.8 p.c., i.e. + 3.6 p.c. on average per annum). The year 2002 was marked by the fall alreadymentioned, which was very pronounced in maritime and industrial companies.Changes by sector in direct effectsThe largest proportion of employment associated with the port of Antwerp relates to the cargo handling andchemicals sectors (21.8 and 19.5 p.c. respectively of the direct employment at the port on average over theperiod) and, to a lesser extent, to those of the car manufacturing, shipping agents and forwarders, other servicesand other industries. The significant creation of jobs noted in 2000 was partly attributable to a recovery inchemicals (+ 3.8 p.c. of employment) and the continuing recruitment of staff in the other services and by shippingagents and forwarders. Employment at the port of Antwerp was at its highest in 2001, especially in chemicals,where it reached 12,129 FTE and in cargo handling 13,588 FTE.At the port of Antwerp, the major changes recorded in 2002 for the direct employment in the main sectors were asfollows:• Cargo handling lost 7.2 p.c. of its direct employment, recording the sharpest fall over this period, down to12,604 FTE. There was large-scale restructuring in this sector, especially in the « Naties »;• Employment in chemicals fell by 4.5 p.c. and dropped back to 11,577 FTE. In spite of investments whichwere in progress or scheduled, this highly competitive sector had to restructure in 2002; this appliedparticularly to Monsanto Europe, which shed 128 jobs, and to a lesser extent to 3M Belgium and BayerAntwerpen;43The breakdown of the indirect effects by sector for the period 1995 - 1999 can be found in annex 5 (table 50).26 NBB WORKING PAPER No.56 - JUNE 2004