A Study on the Performance Comparison of Container Terminal Operators in Busan Port and Shanghai Port

Abstract

Due to the continuous increasement of the container cargoes, each container port market has been growing as well. Moreover, the competition among container terminal operators located in the same port is also growing in order to attract more container cargoes. This paper looked into the market structures, market conducts and market performances of container ports in Busan and Shanghai. The index which has been most widely used to measure market structure, the Hirschman-Herfindahl Index (HHI), is computed by squaring each supplier's market share, then adding the squared shares. This paper estimated the market performance as profitability (PCM, ROA), growth (total TEU, rate of the increasement of TEU) and examined the effects of the HHI on the profitability and growth in a container terminal operators in Korea and China. The major findings of this study is that the market structure has effects on market performance in Busan port (total TEU) and Shanghai port (PCM, ROA and total TEU). As a result of analysing this study, market structure has an effect on market performance in Busan and Shanghai port, but the power of influence can be changed by market concentration index and various market conduct of companies.