This paper is about the London Gateway Project. This is a new deepwater port near London. The paper outlines the project, and it provides some facts and figures about the economic and financial impact this project is going to have on the south east and Greater London regions of England.
London Gateway Project is a $2.6 billion project is a major port and logistics development in Essex, aimed at dramatically improving Britain's shipping infrastructure. The company undertaking the project is DP World, a Dubai-based company. The London Gateway is a deepwater port, capable of handling essentially any ship. The project is intended to be a significant upgrade on the current Port of London facilities. The Gateway is located on the Thames, not far from both the mouth of the river and from Greater London.
Impacts
There are several ways to examine the impacts of the London Gateway Project. The first is to look at the immediate impacts. Part of the impetus for the Gateway Project is that current ports in Britain tend to be congested. The current major ports on the island are Felixstowe in Suffolk, Southampton and Liverpool. The former two are relatively close to London, but not nearly as close as the Gateway Project, but they can be considered to be immediate competitors as they serve the south of England. Liverpool is more of a northern port, not necessarily competing for the same business. Congestion at the ports means that there are delays for ships that wish to come and go, representing economic inefficiency and lost revenue (FTA, 2014). The ports at Southampton and London are among the largest and fastest-growing in the country, indicating that not only is there strong demand, but that demand is growing for the future. Delays at the ports not only affect import entering Great Britain, but exports as well. Lost trade opportunities due to port capacity issues are a concern for government, hence the approval of the London Gateway Project.
Furthermore, DP predicts that the Gateway port will open up further trade opportunities with the continent. In its literature, it notes that it is "possible to link London Gateway to our European network via our international terminal at Barking." In addition, Gateway will provide shippers with diversity in terms of rail freight options, something that should lower the cost of rail freight, since there is now competition for intermodal transport options (DP World, 2013).
The London Gateway leverages its location to further help lower shipping costs. DP World (2013) notes that the project lies within 40% of the UK economy and 15 million people in the immediate 50-mile vicinity. Noting that fuel costs have increased 80% in the past decade, such proximity to the country's major market is a strategic advantage. It is worth noting that one of the biggest advantages of intermodal transport is that it allows for the lowest cost shipping (ocean) to be the majority of shipping -- and getting to a port closest to the market further lowers the cost. Thus, there are some compelling economic impacts of this project in terms of providing greater competition in transportation, reducing costly delays at the existing ports, and with respect to lowering the overall cost of intermodal transport.
From an economic perspective, it is also worth considering that the Gateway project will improve the nation's economic efficiency, and it could also increase trade. On the first, the lack of delays at major ports will increase the traffic flow. The increased capacity will allow for more trade in general to occur -- full ports are a constraint to the development of trade. Furthermore on the second point there are going to be more export opportunities with this excess port capacity. The increase in capacity and the increase in trade efficiency go hand in hand with the new port development.
Other Impacts
In addition to increases in trade, there are opportunities for growth in a variety of ancillary businesses. The construction of a logistics park adjacent to the port will provide thousands of jobs in the shipping, customs and logistics industries. The jobs that the port will bring will create new opportunities in the region surrounding the port for everything from security to retail and pubs. Further to this, greater access to foreign markets will allow for broader economic growth that indirectly results from this project. By building out more capacity, more companies can export, more can import and there will be growth in the different land-based shipping businesses as well. Overall, thousands of new jobs will be created as the result of the London Gateway Project.
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