Containerization of bulk trades: A case study of US–Asia wood pulp transport

Containerization of bulk cargo has gradually emerged in recent decades, particularly along the US–East Asia trade route (China, Japan and South Korea). One of the background factors in the emergence of this phenomenon is an imbalance between eastbound and westbound container cargo movements along th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMaritime economics & logistics Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 179 - 197
Main Authors Kawasaki, Tomoya, Matsuda, Takuma
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Palgrave Macmillan UK 01.06.2015
Palgrave Macmillan
Subjects
Business and Management
Commodities
Container ships
Containerization
Containers
Economic conditions
Economic factors
Economics
Exports
International trade
Literature reviews
Logistics
Operations Management
Original Article
Pulp & paper industry
Sea transport
Shipping industry
Studies
Wood
United States > US
Asia
East Asia
modal choice
bulk carriers
United States
wood pulp
container vessels
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Summary:Containerization of bulk cargo has gradually emerged in recent decades, particularly along the US–East Asia trade route (China, Japan and South Korea). One of the background factors in the emergence of this phenomenon is an imbalance between eastbound and westbound container cargo movements along this route. Nonetheless, the factors that affect containerization have not yet been identified. We conduct an empirical analysis to understand how shippers choose transport modes, depending on the prevailing economic conditions. We aim to reveal the critical factors in choosing bulk carriers versus container vessels in hauling wood pulp, a bulk commodity that ships from the United States to East Asia. Our results can assist shippers and shipping companies in securing the most advantageous transport mode. Our main finding is that the effect of economic factors on the transport mode decision differs among the three East Asian countries. The Japan route is mostly subject to economic factors. Economic factors other than freight rates have no significant effect on the South Korea route. In the case of China, none of the economic factors was identified as being of great importance. Hence, in the latter case, rational decision making, based on prevailing economic conditions, might not take place when choosing the transport mode.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Case Study-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
content type line 14
ObjectType-Report-1
ISSN:1479-2931
1479-294X
DOI:10.1057/mel.2014.16