Abstract
Nearly the entire European trade of Finland is being executed through short sea shipping connections to Estonia, Sweden and Germany. Earlier the most important connections were to Sweden and Germany, but during Estonia’s new independence era, volumes to this alternative direction have increased considerably, and are continuously growing (time alone is good proxy for growth). This cannot be said for transport flows to Sweden, and Germany also holds high uncertainty. Based on the findings of this research, it is argued that Estonian connection growth was caused by different factors. One important factor was European Union membership in the year 2004. It should be emphasized that this was step-wise and was realized a decade ago. The main influence is that of the development of bulky trade. As measured in weight, both export and import of Finland with Estonia was found to be significant. However, in monetary terms only Finnish imports from Estonia was statistically significant. Finnish exports in turn to Estonia in value terms have contributed a negative effect (or even being insignificant). As the regression model was expanded, taking into account all three Baltic States and Poland, reliable additional findings couldn’t be drawn. Completed regression analysis shows that the explanation power of GDP based models became much lower after the years 2005‒2006.
Highlights
In the European Union truck based transportation chains are still dominating (Woxenius & Bergqvist 2011; Morales-Fusco et al 2012), and market shares as well as volumes have increased in the emerging East European markets (Baltic States, see Buchhofer 1995; Kovacs & Spens 2006; Hilmola 2011)
Objective of this study is to reveal possible long-term growth factors on general cargo transports between Finland and Estonia
And 4 general cargo volumes and trade account development from a Finnish perspective are being introduced regarding the main European Union countries and directions. This is for the reason that most of the long-distance trucking volumes on the north-south axel are originating from short sea shipping operations between Finland and Estonia, and are having a significant Finnish involvement
Summary
In the European Union truck based transportation chains are still dominating (Woxenius & Bergqvist 2011; Morales-Fusco et al 2012), and market shares as well as volumes have increased in the emerging East European markets (Baltic States, see Buchhofer 1995; Kovacs & Spens 2006; Hilmola 2011). Interaction has always existed between these two countries, but after the Baltic States became independent again during late 1991 and members of the European Union (and in the same year the military alliance, NATO) 13 years later, it is evident that the platform for growth has existed (Buchhofer 1995; Ojala et al 2005; Kovacs & Spens 2006; Hilmola 2011) This development coupled together with a relatively cost competitive labour market, having needed flexibility, has further fostered trade growth. This is for the reason that most of the long-distance trucking volumes on the north-south axel are originating from short sea shipping operations between Finland and Estonia, and are having a significant Finnish involvement (export of industries or import of retail and industrial items).
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