Posted on September 27, 2017
IADC’s annual review of the global dredging market, Dredging in Figures, is now available. This edition focuses on the international dredging industry’s revenue for 2016.
Report Reviews Revenue
This paper highlights essential information about the dredging industry, which is divided into three sections – Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that includes sustainability, emissions and safety, the drivers of the dredging industry, and the turnover in the open markets of the industry.
IADC is thorough and precise in estimating the dredging turnover. Statistics presented are based on information from public sources and IADC member companies.
IADC reviews six drivers that are key to charting progress in the dredging industry: world trade, population growth (demographics and urban development), coastal protection, growing demands for energy, water-related tourism, and environment.
World Trade Highlights:
With goods primarily transported via sea routes at an increasing rate, world trade is a major driver for the dredging industry. Ports are essential to the distribution of goods from seaborne trade, therefore they should be maintained to ensure optimal trading levels are sustained. Development and maintenance of ports and waterways is performed by dredging companies. With seaborne trade accounting for the bulk of world trade, there is an omnipresent need to expand existing ports and construct new ports and waterways.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), numerous ports across the globe need to improve their capacities in order to handle future trade growth as well as growing container ship sizes. Studies from the World Trade Organization show a low level of trade growth in 2016.
The decline was partially driven by a weak GDP growth of just 2.3%, which is down from 2.7% in 2015 and well below the 2.8% average annual rate since 1980. With a 1.3% increase in 2016, world merchandise trade recorded its lowest growth in terms of volume since the financial crisis of 2008. This is half the level achieved in 2015 and well below the 4.7% average annual growth rate since 1980. Imports of developed economies grew 2.0% while those of developing economies stagnated, and exports recorded modest growth of 1.4% in developed economies and 1.3% in developing economies.
Global regions were affected to varying degrees by the slump in trade in 2016 but by the concluding quarter of the year, container throughput of major ports showed a trend of recovery from the preceding two-year-long slump. World exports of freight transport by sea declined by 13% due to overcapacity in the shipping industry and weak demand as a result of stagnating economic conditions. Slower growth in trade resulted in less port and waterway-related investments.
Source: IADC
