Future Japanese Hub port
If the following conditions are satisfied, it is possible for a Japanese port to become hub port by: 1) providing low-cost transshipment service; 2) securing high quality terminal operation with safe, stable fast services; 3) twenty-four hour and 365 day per year operation; and 4) improved total competitiveness by easing regulation. The City of Kitakyushu has a great interest in this concept. They are constructing a new container terminal in Hibikinada that will meet the above conditions and to serve as a hub port in the Pan Yellow Sea area. They are in competition with other Asian ports for North American trade and would like to be the HUB Port or the Last Port of Call for Asia/North America trade using the Japan Sea route and through the channel between Hokido and Honshu.98 A new airport is also to be built in 5 years on the West of Kyusyu that will complement Hibikinada.99 Other Japanese ports are seeing their cargo decreasing due to competition from Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Singapore, and other domestic ports and would also like to be both a hub and a feeder port.100 Okinawa is well located to be a hub port and transshipment center. Its development as a hub port of large significance would depend upon steamship line support after all the superstructure and facilities were built. Which steamship lines would use it, however? The development of a brand new container terminal to be a hub is a risky development. Kobe has a historical foundation/background as a hub port but current costs are make the prospect unlikely.101
Overcapacity and competition between ports on price
From container terminal operator's point of view, overcapacity can cause competition between ports. Port management bodies are trying to reduce charges in order to secure sea routes, which have an effect on the overall reduction of charges. Also, shipping companies are requesting port management bodies to lower port charges as well as stevedoring charges. Ports that have handled small volumes of containers from the beginning and are experiencing further dispersion business due to severe competition.102
In the U.S., overcapacity, as such, has not been a major problem on the West Coast of the United States. In fact, a larger issue has been to develop terminals quickly enough to keep up with the growth of container trade. However, as previously stated, there is strong competition with other ports because of the discretionary nature of the cargo moving through US West Coast gateways and because the large ports on the West Coast have been able to either acquire or create land for additional terminal development. All of this has had an impact on price, particularly in the Pacific Northwest where rates are substantially below those in Southern California.103
Production/Operations
In this new era of global exchange, technological, and organizational changes, must be made to increase port productivity in order to ensure that a nation's competitive advantage is not lost through inefficiency in physical distribution.104 There are significant differences between individual port's operations and on the amount of containers that their terminals are able to handle per hour. Much of this is due to the differences in economies of scale in ports. The number of “containers handled per hour” is the usual indicator of terminal performance. Other factors come into play however that may cause variations in terminal container handling capacity. They include: “quay length; container yard congestion; quay crane cycle times; the pattern of ship arrival; the number of container exchanged per call as a proportion of the capacity of the vessel; the size of vessels; and the performance of customs departments.”105 The way containers are handled in the yard is another very important factor.
