This book provides an expert analysis of alternative investments routes and the investment strategies available to the major port players, and is a much-needed guide to expanding the investor base for private debt funding of projects from loan providers to bond investors.

Port infrastructure investments are vitally important to all ports throughout the world; without these investments, the competitive position of ports and of the dependent logistics sector will deteriorate.

National/regional governments and the local port authorities are no longer a guaranteed source of sufficient financial input to meet the continuous port infrastructure investment needs of major ports. It is, therefore, increasingly crucial for ports to broaden their strategies and secure alternative streams of investment.

This book provides expert insight into areas of port infrastructure finance across the main regions of Europe, Asia, Africa and the USA. Topics include how to estimate future demand by way of forecasting; Public-Private Partnerships; corporatisation; the pricing mechanisms for syndicated loans; European port privatisation; finance strategies for ports in Asia, the USA and Africa; and a discussion of the investment strategies available to the major port players.

Port Infrastructure Finance is an invaluable book for all parties involved in the port and maritime business, as well as investment companies, banks and other financial institutions involved in infrastructure investment.

The on-going globalisation and the increasing demand for flexibility in modern businesses have made transport, together with business logistics, a major functional domain. Transport growth is essentially for economic growth but is not without negative impacts. External effects such as pollution, congestion, accidents and damage to infrastructure generate considerable social costs that impose a heavy burden on society. This title addresses the need to develop new freight transport models and scientific tools to provide sound solutions that consider the wide range of internal and external impacts. The international contributions push forward frontiers in freight transport modelling and analysis.

This book models price behaviour and forecasts prices in the dry bulk shipping market, a major component of the world shipping industry. Recent uncertainties in the world economy, shipbuilding developments and fleet changes mean the dry bulk shipping market has become extremely volatile, highly speculative and more sensitive to external shocks. In response to these challenging circumstances, this book models price behaviour and forecasts prices in various markets including the freight market, the new build ship market and the second-hand ship market. The authors have carried out an extensive investigation of dry bulk shipping over a 60-year period in diverse sub-markets, trading routes, market conditions and dry bulk vessels. The authors also propose a framework for analysing and modelling the economic processes of numerous variables in the dry bulk shipping market, making use of modern econometric techniques and other economic approaches. This will be especially useful for the control and assessment of risk for ship owners and charterers in ship operation, ship chartering and ship trading activities. This book will be extremely useful for shipbuilders, owners and charterers, as well as shipping analysts and policymakers. It will also be of great interest to academics and researchers concerned with the economics of the shipping industry.

Future Challenges for the Port and Shipping Sector discusses the issues that most influence the future of the maritime and port industries. The topics covered include: maritime trade, future trade flows, evolutions in international trade, shipping capacity and demand, developments in ship construction and their economic consequences. The book also covers future developments in ports (technology and economics), the future role of port authorities (the role of national and international public authorities, as well as cooperation between ports), the future development in ports (hinterland transportation, landslide handling, and financial developments), financial developments (alternative financing of investments, hedging operations, mergers and cooperation, and capital markets).

This book is intended for transportation professionals interested in the role of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), and freight transport modeling and policy. It is dedicated to the memory of Professor Marvin L. Manheim, the father of modern Transportation Systems Analysis (TSA), who founded the World Conference on Transport Research Society, and is considered the foremost visionary of ICTs, transportation, and logistics. The book is divided into three main parts. The first part is about Professor Marvin L. Manheim and his path breaking contributions to transportation. The main chapter, written by him, is based on the keynote presentation he delivered at the opening session of the 1998 World Conference on Transport Research in Antwerp. It presents his vision for the role of ICTs in transport; a vision that was revolutionary in 1998 and is still valid and relevant today. The first part also includes an overview written by his widow and collaborator, Mary-Beth Manheim, describing his scientific contributions. The remainder of the book, parts two and three, is about freight transport modeling and policy, and presents an application of Manheim's TSA paradigm. More specifically, the second part presents the recent advances in freight modeling. The chapters begin with a model of the linkages between freight and the macro-economic environment, and end with models of the detailed aspects of logistics choices such as mode of transport, transshipments, and shipment size. Topics covered in part two also include predictions of production to consumption freight flows through the use of multi regional input-output models, choice analysis using freight market research surveys, and estimation of value of quality attributes and value of time in freight transport. Finally, part three of the book describes how the freight models, covered in part two, are used to develop local and regional transport policies.

This title covers selected proceedings of the 8th World Conference on Transport Research.