Capacity building seminar on planning, design, development and operation of intermodal freight interfaces, including dry ports

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Part 2: Policy Issues and Financing of Dry Ports

Peter Hodgkinson, Consultant Transport Economist UNESCAP

1. Policy initiatives to assist dry port development2. Infrastructure issues related to dry port development

3. Good practices of dry port development in the region

4. Financing - PPP and other financing methods

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Content – Part 2

Item 1. Policy initiatives to assist dry port development

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Description(Policy initiative)

Intention to support: Remarks

Establish-ment

Commence-ment of operations

Longer term financialviability

Land transfer √ Most benefit in short term

Tax waiver √ √ Short term benefit

Priority development of transport connections

√ √ √ Vital benefit in short-long term

Incorporation into export processing or other FTZs

√ ? May have long term benefit (depends on location and market possibilities)

Regulation for sustainable transport connections

√ √ Will favour most efficient transport in longer term

Commonly applied initiatives

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1.1 Problems with policy formulation and application

• Generally fragmented authority for coordination and planning of dryport development in region – many separate agencies and regulatoryauthorities involved

• Limits ability to formulate and apply consistent and effectivegovernment policies and initiatives

• Need in majority of countries to set up inter-agency coordinatingcommittee under single government authority, preferably Ministry ofTransport or equivalent

• India and Islamic Republic of Iran provide good examples ofcountries which have succeeded in co-ordinating the dry portplanning and regulatory functions of different agencies under asingle ministry:

In India, functions co-ordinated within Inter Ministerial Committeeunder Ministry of Commerce and IndustryIn Islamic Republic of Iran, functions of multiple agencies co-ordinated within inter-agency committee under the Ministry ofTransport

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1.2 Effectiveness of various policy initiatives• Land transfer

Transfer of land from public sector to private sector made either asgrant or lease or sale, at concessional rates

Often a pre-requisite for private sector investment in dry ports, dueprohibitively high land prices (often fuelled by speculation)

Is usually a public sector obligation in PPP contracts

Highly effective in short term (establishing dry ports), but can alsosecure viability in longer term

• Financial incentives (e.g. tax waivers)

Can include business tax or land tax holidays, for limited period of time

Considered to be ineffective or at least of only short term benefit

Few countries have applied such incentives to assist dry portdevelopment, one exception being Australia, where local governmentland taxes are sometimes reduced to assist establishment of dry ports

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• Priority development of transport connections

Adequate connections of dry ports by road and rail, or (where possible) inlandwaterways, essential for their financial viability in short, medium and long termIn case of some PPP contracts, development of external transport connections anobligation of public sector partnersIn some cases, governments assist infrastructure development through financialgrants to private developers (e.g. branch-lines in Islamic Republic of Iran)

• Incorporation into export processing or other free trade zones

Application with mixed successOften FTZs located near borders with limited, or no, industrial base – thereforelimited, or no, demand for dry port services

• Regulation for sustainable transport connectionsMost countries restrict truck weights and dimensions to limit road damage orenhance safety (not to divert traffic to sustainable transport modes)Problems of enforcement and limited effect in terms of traffic diversion tosustainable modesSome countries of the region (e.g. Australia and Tajikistan have actually relaxedtruck weights and dimensions to encourage larger and more efficient trucks (thesepolicies need to be reversed)

1.2 Effectiveness of various policy initiatives (cont’d)

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B-Double, overall length 24 metres, capacity 3 TEU

Super B-Double, or B-Triple, overall length 30 metres, capacity 4 TEU

Are regulations on truck weights and dimensions going the wrong way?

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9

0.0000

0.0200

0.0400

0.0600

0.0800

0.1000

0.1200

0.1400

Rail(single

tier)

Rail(doublestack)

Road(semi-trailer)

Road (B-double)

Operating cost per nettonne-km - $A 0.0792 0.0457 0.1365 0.1178

$A

Single tier rail as % of: 100% 174% 58% 67%

$A

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Item 2. Infrastructure issues related to dry port development

Key benefit of dry ports is reduction in logistics costs* of moving cargo fromtrade origins to trade destinations

* Comprises all transport, handling and storage costs incurred between a consignment’s origin and its destination.

• Can only be achieved if different transport modes can be utilized for parts of journeys which will minimize their operating costs, implying that:

1. Dry ports should be connected to cargo sources by short-distance roadhaulage services (either small break-bulk trucks for de-consolidatedcargo or trailer trucks for containers)

2. Dry ports should be connected to seaports (or dry ports in othercountries) by long-distance railway container haulage services

• Realization of transport efficiency and related cost savings will depend ondry ports being connected to high quality seaport, road and railinfrastructure

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2.1 Seaport LinkagesAn important function of dry ports: to facilitate access to the sea forland-locked countries and regions, by consolidating cargo and byproviding cost effective land transport linkages to seaports

• Throughput and storage capacity of a seaport as well as capacityand efficiency of its cargo handling systems can have critical effecton growth of inland trade

• In case of some seaports (e.g. Chittagong), capacity is over-stretched

• In case of others (e.g. Shahid Rajaee) capacity is under-utilized• Seaport managers have responded to capacity shortages in

different ways, but most involve re-location of containerstuffing/unstuffing outside of port

• Has sometimes led to re-location of congestion from port tohighway system (case of Bangladesh)

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Category 2015/16 TEU volumes

% distribut-ion

No. trucks on AH 41

per hour per hrper lane

Containers remaining in Chittagong area 655,900 30.00%

Containers moved to/from Dhaka by rail 68,700 3.14%

Containers moved to/from Dhaka by IWT1,000 0.05%

TEU equivalent of container cargo moved to/from Dhaka by breakbulk truck

1,460,700 66.81% 211 53

Total container volume for Chittagong Port 2,186,300 100.00%

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2.1 Seaport linkages (continued)Two problems associated with rail accesses to seaports:1. Lack of adequate track length inside ports

• All seaports reviewed in UNESCAP studies have railconnections, but almost none can accomodate full length trainsin loading/off loading sidings inside port boundaries

• Imposes on railway operators:need to break up trains outside of the port before placement ofwagons in loading/off loading sidings and to re-marshal trainsoutside of the port after retrieval of wagons from loading/offloading sidings ORneed to transfer containers by road trailer between rail terminaland port (as is case with JNPT)

• Either way, results in substantial additional operating time andcost (not recoverable in railway charges)

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2.1 Seaport linkages (continued)2. Poor location of rail tracks inside ports

• Few, if any, of the region’s seaports locate rail sidingsclose to container stacks adjacent to berths (in mostcases they are 500m to 2 km distant). Even BMCT(centralized rail terminal for JNPT) located 4km frommost port container terminals

• Results in multiple handling of rail-delivered containers(typically 3 lifts per container to/from stacks ascompared with only a single lift for road-deliveredcontainers) and a significant competitive disadvantagefor rail

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2.1 Seaport linkages (continued)Example of restricted rail access to a seaport

• Satellite image of a major seaport (container berths on left)• Rail access line (purple) is 1.5 km from container berths• Off-loaded containers must be transported from rail sidings by prime mover

and yard trailer• Other cargo piers (to right of the container pier) have railway sidings running

their full length, off the access line

Rail access line

Distance rail sidings to cont. berths

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2.2 Road linkages

• Dry ports need good quality local road linkages to cargo sources

• In case of countries lacking a comprehensive rail network, dry ports alsoneed access to seaports via multi-lane highways

• Asian Highway network appears to provide good coverage of region’sdry ports

• No “missing links” in AH network preventing seamless transportbetween dry ports and seaports, or between dry ports in regionalnetwork, identified

• Upgrading of primary road links between seaports and inland tradegenerating centres recently undertaken in several countries of region(mostly involving extra lane construction)

• However, limited road capacity persists in some countries, particularlythose located in mountainous areas (e.g. Afghanistan, some countriesof Central Asia, and southwestern China)

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2.2 Rail linkages• Rail linkages to dry ports exist in most countries of the region

• Coverage of Trans Asian Railway network now quite extensive

• Several “missing links” eliminated over past decade, particularly inIslamic Republic of Iran

• But several more have since arisen, as result of :development of new seaports (e.g. Chabahar on Gulf of Oman inIslamic Republic of Iran); andcreation of new rail transit corridors (e.g. between southwesternChina and Islamic Republic of Iran)

• Upgrading of existing TAR links undertaken, to increase route capacitythrough track doubling and signalling improvements, on some lineslinking inland centres with seaports (e.g. Dhaka-Chittagong line,Bangladesh)

• Future track capacity expansion planned for key TAR routes connectingBandar Abbas (Shahid Rajaee Port) in Islamic Republic of Iran withTehran and Sarakhs

• Special case is development of Dedicated Freight Corridor in India

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• Good location: selection of dry port site close to trade sources, but remotefrom seaports

Proposed Aprin Dry Port will be within 20-60 km road haul ofindustries accounting for 60% of Iranian container volume, butabout 1400 km by rail from Shahid Rajaee Port (Bandar Abbass)

• Efficient layout: design of centrally located railway sidings, facilitatingarrival and departure of full length container trains in and from dry port,complemented by internal roads allowing unimpeded circulation of trucksand handling equipment

Examples are Lard Krabang ICD (Thailand) and Whitefield ICD(India)

• Efficient trading and border control practices: (i) specifying and facilitatingborder clearance within dry ports (avoiding delays in seaports); (ii)adoption of UN/LOCODES; designating dry ports as points of origin anddestination in transport documents (such as Multimodal Bill of Lading)

Examples are Lard Krabang ICD (Thailand) and Cikarang DryPort (Indonesia)

3. Good practices of dry port development in region

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Example of good rail access planning: Lard Krabang Dry Port (Thailand)

• Rail loading/unloading tracks centrally located, permitting working of handling equipment (reach-stackers) on either side

• Tracks are one km long, permitting full length trains (loco plus 30-40 wagons carrying 60-80 TEU) to arrive and depart directly in/from the terminal

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4. Financing - PPP and other financing methods• Three main options:

Option 1: Financing by public sector; operation by public sector,or outsourcing of operation through managementcontract with private sector

Option 2: 100% private sector financing and operation

Option 3: Public Private Partnership (PPP) variants

• Risk assignment:

Under Option 1 (applied to Khorgos project in Kazakhstan): allrisk assumed by public sector. Applied within India to CONCOR.

Under Option 2 (applied in Australia and Indonesia): all riskassumed by private sector - may be unattractive to potentialinvestors

Under Option 3 (only two applications to existing dry ports.Uiwang, Republic of Korea and Lard Krabang, Thailand): capitalinvestment and risk shared in varying proportions between publicand private partners

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4.1 PPP variants• All PPP schemes involve 100% private operation and shared public

private investment; risk also shared

• Most involve transfer of land by public partner to joint venture

• Most also involve 100% of infrastructure investment by publicpartner and 100% of equipment investment by private partner, butpossible for infrastructure investment to be shared by public andprivate partners

• So far in region PPP mainly applied to highway and seaport projectswith guaranteed level and stability of demand; high level of riskassociated with dry port projects due to uncertain level and stabilityof demand, particularly in inland areas

• May be need for public sector to assume majority of risk toencourage PPP; in case of Lard Krabang project, PPP schemesuccessful because public sector covered all of project’sinfrastructure costs, in addition to providing land

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4.2 Conclusions on ownership and financing options

• 100% state ownership and financing unlikely to succeedowing to state budget shortfall

• 100% private ownership and financing unlikely to beattractive to potential investors owing to excessive risk

• PPP likely to succeed if state assumes a major part of risk(through transfer of land and investment in all infrastructure)

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………Many thanks!