Measuring value tonnes based on direct value added: a new weighted analysis for the port of Antwerp

The expansion of port hubs in densely populated areas increasingly causes headwinds. Besides the environmental harm, opponents also claim that port growth in terms of traffic, and the necessary capacity to handle cargo, no longer generate the proclaimed value added in their region. Based on two decades of research, value-added measures, including wages, indicate that diversified port hubs should strategically focus on higher value added-creating types of cargo. This paper presents new data for the Antwerp seaport, and a comparative analysis of direct port value added for transshipment and gateway containers. By means of a bottom–up approach using the financial statements of 16 terminal operators, the value added of different types of traffic has been recalculated on 2015 data by transforming nominal tonnes into so-called “value tonnes”. Interestingly, we find that value added coefficients of different cargo types have converged compared to 1995 data, and that gateway containers represent almost twice as much value added than transhipment containers.