Terminals are not getting a share of the booming shipping market

So far, the boom in the container shipping market has not been transmitted to the container terminals.According to Mr Delury, the performance of liner companies increased by 119.6 per cent in 2020, compared with 22.4 per cent for terminal operators.In 2021, the gap will widen even further.

Nilesh Tiwary, research manager for shipping finance at Delury, said liner companies continued to perform better, helped by higher freight rates, improved profitability and surging demand.In 2020, its earnings before interest and tax will be $27 billion, with an operating margin of 13%.Mr. Tiwary expects the profit cycle for liner companies to extend, at least for a few years.Even if things change in the future, the liner companies are unlikely to fall into another cycle of heavy losses.

But in the past year, port and terminal operations have faced multiple challenges, including port congestion due to blockade restrictions, labor shortages and delays.Global container port throughput growth declined by 1 percent in 2020, down from 2 percent in 2019 and 5 percent in 2018, reducing port operators' revenues.

It is well known that while the wave of consolidation in container shipping has helped liner companies manage capacity better, it has reduced the number of potential customers and alliances with ports.The number of ships in port is an important factor for port performance, as it affects port throughput.A port with a higher degree of connectivity is attractive to both importers and exporters and helps increase the port's market share.However, as container lines consolidate, ports are losing their bargaining power, as reflected in falling EBITDA.

In addition, larger ships are making fewer port calls but more peak times, further cutting into port revenues.However, analysts warn that container shipping remains a much more volatile business than terminals, which may still be the best long-term investment as the outbreak eases.