Globalization has increased the importance of transport in the economy and in companies. Around the world, port authorities are constantly under pressure to improve the efficiency of ports so that their services are internationally competitive and also to sustain economic development based on international trade. There is practically a consensus that ports are a vital link in the trade chain, contributing positively to a country's international competitiveness.
In Brazil, one of the countries that make up the BRIC group (formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China), exports more than doubled in the period between 2002 and 2007, reaching the level of 160 billion dollars per year. In an environment of accelerated growth, measuring the performance of ports is not only an important tool for port and terminal operators, but is also an important parameter to help plan port operations at a regional and national level.
Traditionally, the performance of ports and terminals has been evaluated through several attempts to calculate and optimize the operational productivity of cargo movement in the berths and in the terminal area. However, more recently, more appropriate holistic approaches such as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Data Envelopement Analysis), have been increasingly used to analyze port productivity and performance.
In this article, the factors that influence the efficiency of several Brazilian terminals spread across the country's main ports are presented and discussed. Because the information collected at each terminal is confidential, its results regarding efficiency and productivity are grouped by the respective ports of origin. Information was collected on 25 terminals, relating to three inputs it's two outputs characteristic of port operations. Based on these data, the relative efficiency of each of the terminals and the excess capacity of each of their terminals were determined via DEA. inputs e outputs.
Os inputs considered were:
- The number of berths in each terminal; • The terminal area (square meters); and • The number of parking spaces for trucks.
In turn, the outputs considered were:
- The number of tons moved per year; and • The number of ships embarked.
In general terms, the efficiency indices determined from the DEA technique simultaneously consider all these inputs e outputs and not just oneoutput to a input, as in traditional measures of productivity. Specifically, the efficiency indices of each terminal, which can vary between 0% and 100%, with 100% being the most efficient, were grouped based on similar characteristics, such as terminal control (public or private), type of cargo predominantly shipped (solid bulk, liquid bulk or container) and connectivity via rail access (yes or no), allowing to identify whether and how the privatization of terminals and/or investments in infrastructure can improve their efficiency. The results are presented and discussed below.
Terminal Efficiency
Table 1 shows the average efficiencies of the terminals surveyed in each port. Efficiency should be understood as the level of use of inputsfrom the terminal to a certain level of output, or production achieved. The interpretation of these indices can be done from two perspectives: one static and the other dynamic. Generally, we tend to analyze productivity from a static perspective. It is as if a photo were taken at a given instant, with the most efficient terminals being those close to 100% and the least efficient, those closest to 0%. From this perspective, the less idleness, the better, as all resources are being used all the time, without slack and, roughly speaking, optimized. It can be noticed that the terminals surveyed with efficiency above 90% are located in the ports of Rio Grande, Vitória, Aratu and Rio de Janeiro, indicating a very reduced capacity gap.
On the other hand, with the accelerated growth of trade volumes, it is necessary to consider a dynamic perspective in time. In summary, we want to know which terminals are comparatively more prepared today, in terms of slack in resources, to deal with substantially greater volumes in the coming years. It should be remembered that the expansion of port capacity (as well as all other investments in infrastructure) consumes a reasonable amount of planning and execution time, and cannot be carried out overnight. In this sense, it seems that the terminals of two important Brazilian ports, Santos (74,20%) and Sepetiba (67,15%), for example, still have the capacity to deal with volume growth.
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| Table 1 - Average efficiency (terminals grouped by ports) Source: Center for Studies in Logistics – Porto Research |
However, port operations are complex by nature, and the way in which inputs are used or allocated in these operations does not occur homogeneously with volume growth. Therefore, operational bottlenecks arise, which demands a more detailed analysis of the inputs and outputsof the terminals.
Specifically with regard to inputs of the terminals, the results presented in Table 2 indicate that the area and the number of parking spaces tend to present some idleness in different terminals of different ports. However, the use of the number of berths is completely saturated in the surveyed sample, that is, there is practically no slack available in this variable to face possible mooring peaks or growth in cargo handling (slack = zero).
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| Table 2 - Average capacity gap at inputs (terminals grouped by ports) Source: Center for Studies in Logistics – Porto Research |
If one of the main resources of the terminals, which is the number of berths, is completely saturated and the expansion of the capacity of port operations takes time, what is the margin for the growth of operations and the consequent support to international trade while investments in infrastructure are not mature? An analysis of outputs may indicate some path, albeit temporary.
In fact, according to Table 3 and if we take the port of Santos terminals as an emblematic example, the output it may be even greater, not only in terms of production in tons/year, but also in terms of the number of ships embarked. One detail must be considered: the first output still has room to grow at a higher rate than the second. This directly affects the level of cargo consolidation on ships and indicates which ways operations can grow in volume: larger ships, more loaded. In general, it can be seen that the slack to increase the number of ships shipped tends to be very small compared to the growth in volume that should come from consolidation. Not to mention the substantial saturation at the terminals in Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande.
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| Table 3 - Average capacity gap in the outputs (terminals grouped by ports) Source: Center for Studies in Logistics – Porto Research |
Factors that affect efficiency
Considering a static perspective and assuming that infrastructure investments occur in a timing adequate to meet the needs of future growth, it is important to identify the main factors that can lead to a more rational use of terminal resources and a more efficient relationship between outputs e inputs. Specifically, the impact of three factors was analyzed: terminal control, type of cargo and the existence of rail access.
It can be seen, from the data in Table 4, that in the different ports of the country, the terminals under private control tend to present an efficiency level six percentage points above the terminals under public control (79% x 73%). Probably, several managerial initiatives related to the administration of port operations should explain this difference between the performance of the public and private sectors.
In turn, connectivity with rail transport illustrates the impact of intermodality on the efficiency of port operations. Terminals with rail access are, on average, three percentage points more efficient than terminals with only road access. Finally, terminals handling bulk cargo tend to be nearly 30 percentage points, on average, more efficient than terminals handling containerized cargo. This last result is perhaps not entirely surprising, since Brazil is one of the most important exporters of commodities in the world and pressures for efficiency are high. However, it can mean an additional challenge to increase the export of manufactured products with higher added value, which are usually packaged in containers.
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| Table 4 - Impact on average efficiency Source: Center for Studies in Logistics – Porto Research |
CONCLUSION
In this article, efficiency levels and their determinants were evaluated in several Brazilian terminals. The results indicate that the limitations in the operational capacity of the terminals begin to become generalized in the ports from North to South of the country and that, in the short term, the growth of the commercialized volume will only be possible through greater consolidation of cargoes in the ships. This is because investments in a greater number of berths consume a substantial amount of time for planning, maturation and execution.
The issue of capacity expansion must be evaluated in an even broader perspective by public authorities and private investors, since some ports, such as Santos, Vitória and Rio de Janeiro, are currently prisoners of their respective metropolitan regions. However, understanding the main determinants of productivity at terminals can also help in this planning: opportunities for privatization and the search for rail access are elements that can contribute to a faster return on investments made.
For those who wish to learn more about the DEA technique and its potential for use in productivity issues in ports and terminals, we recommend some additional reading, such as:
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TONGZON, J.. Efficiency measurement of selected Australian and other international ports using Data Envelopment Analysis, Transportation Research – Part A, 35, pp 107-122, 2001.
CULLINANE, K., SONG, DW, WANG TF. The application of mathematical programming approaches to estimate container port production efficiency, Journal of Productivity Analysis, 24, pp 73-92, 2005.
CULLINANE, K., WANG, TF, SONG, DW. The technical efficiency of container ports: comparing Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Transportation Research – Part A, 40, pp 354-374, 2006.
Authors: Maria Fernanda Hijjar, Peter Wanke and Monica Barros
Maria Fernanda Hijjar
https://ilos.com.brExecutive Partner of ILOS, holds a master's degree and a degree in Production Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). With more than 10 years of experience in the field of Logistics and Supply Chain, working on several projects, management and participation in research associated with the subject. She has more than 20 articles in newspapers, magazines, periodicals and congress annals, being co-author of several titles in the COPPEAD Collection by Atlas publishing house and in the Panorama Logístico Collection ILOS and CEL / COPPEAD.
