The global marine terminal business is estimated to be a $63 billion industry annually and at an estimated 4% plus per annum is still out pacing worldwide GDP growth. In the past four decades, Asia has been the biggest reason for growth in container terminal operations. It takes only a cursory look at a list of the world’s largest container ports to see where the growth has come from over the last forty years.

Even now as trade growth in China slows, volumes on the Asia to Europe and Asia to North America trade lanes still remain the principal drivers behind container terminal expansion.

But the terminal industry is facing some significant hurtles as the next generation of boxships enter service. The rapid increase in the size of container ships has created a challenge for both the terminals and the manufacturers supplying the terminal equipment.

More at the American Journal of Transportation