BANK REPORTS ON PORT
[BIZ: Brussels/Liège, November 19] In terms of tonnage handled, the Port of Liège is maintaining its position as the second highest-ranking inland port in Europe, handling 21m tons of cargo in various modes. However, when one looks more closely at the added value, at employment, or at investments the story is a different one. This is part of the report from the Belgium National Bank, which has just come out, relating to the current situation in respect of the economic importance of the Liège port complex in 2003. The 27 public ports, the private quays, and 100 businesses that live off the river trade have been thoroughly examined to see how they have managed the change following the restructuring of the steel industry in Liège. The key factor is that between now and 2009, when the hot-rolled steel lines close, the port complex will lose eight million tons of cargo in minerals and coal, a third of the current tonnage. In 2003, when the closure of the blast furnaces was announced, there was already a fall in direct employment of 9.5% falling from 13,731 to 12,427 FTEs. In 1997 there had been 14,492 direct employees in the port complex. This is a drop that relates to all port business, with the exception of the food sector. As a consequence of subcontracting, the workforce fell by 7.7%. In total, employment created within the Liège port complex was 28,500 FTEs in 2003, a fall of 8.5% on 2002. Getting Back on Course Another important indicator of the economic health of the port is the creation of added value by the business. There has been a fall-off in this area too. The wealth created by the 100 companies involved fell below the level of EUR 1bn; this is a fall of 10.6%. The sectors included the metal industry, construction, energy, and chemicals. Finally, investment in the port zone fell by 21.4%, to EUR 120m — the lowest figure since 1997. On the positive side, financially, the port complex, as a whole, presents an optimistic picture. The National Bank report notes that while there is an increase in the number of businesses in trouble, these are principally SMEs, but it notes that these are important to the port. “The financial situation is getting better, and this is a sign of the major change being experienced by the port,” says the National Bank. The port complex has got to get back on course. Its director Emile-Louis Bertrand recognizes that it is not because lost tonnages are gradually being replaced that the situation could be said to be good. The bank notes that the prospects are rather unattractive in the mid-term, but adds that the Port of Liège should profit from its assets, such as: the new multimodal platform at Hermalle called ‘TriLogiPort’, the disappearance of the navigation costs on waterways, and cooperation between the coastal ports and inland ports, and also the active support for the SMEs in the Liège basin, because they seem more vulnerable than those in the rest of the Walloon country. The National Bank notes that the added value, direct and indirect, of the port of Liège represents 3.2% of the Walloon gross domestic product. It exhorts the Port of Liège to complete the logistical redevelopment of the Liège Basin. In short, to move from a logic based on tonnage handled, one of the reasons for the existence of the waterways, to a logic based on the creation of added value and employment.
Belgium’s National Bank has given an assessment of the Autonomous Port of Liège in a report made public in ‘Le Soir’ at the link below.
http://www.nbb.be