Port competition and competitiveness: An application to the Spanish seafronts

Abstract

Spanish ports are one of the main segments of the country infrastructure network, especially regarding to international trade. For this reason, this article analyses, for the year 2007 and for Spanish seafronts, port competition and competitiveness. To do it we compute some well-known indices, as well as a new indicator taking into account the role of distance. The results show that the most attractive seafronts are the South-Mediterranean, in terms of traffic value, and the North, in terms of traffic weight. By type of good, the North seafront is the most relevant in solid bulks and general cargo, while the South-Mediterranean seafront is the first one in liquid bulks and the Levante seafront highlights in container traffic. Finally, some recommendations about public policy are included.