OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings says in a new report that smaller and mid-sized European ports are more vulnerable than their larger, more diversified peers in a competitive environment with sluggish growth. Over the medium term, their ability to remain competitive will depend on their ability to expand their facilities to accommodate larger vessels, or position themselves in the value chain as feeders.

Key factors affecting the sector include:

-Mixed signals from global trade data; the severe recession in Russia weighed on European port performance in 2015. While larger and more diversified ports were less affected, smaller or more concentrated ports experienced volume contractions.
-EMEA container port volumes are correlated to private consumption, although recent data show that this linkage has weakened since 2014.
-Containerisation is reaching maturity; after 6.5% average annual growth since 1985. Fitch forecasts container ports to grow in line with GDP in future.