As Morski writes on the 24th of September, 2019, the Port of Rijeka has been listed as one of the top 100 ports in the LSCI (Liner shipping connectivity index) this year, published since 2006 by UNCTAD.
The index refers primarily to container traffic and is calculated annually, for almost one thousand world ports, based on their connection with shipping lines with other world ports, the efficiency of cargo handling and other parameters.
The LSCI index is one of the benchmarks not only for connectivity but also for the efficiency of container ports, so this listing is among the top 100 in the world not only for the existing container terminal in Brajdica, which is under the management of the Adriatic Gate (Jadranska Vrata), majority owned by the Philippine ICTSI, which has recorded a constant double-digit increase in traffic in percentages in recent years, but also for the prospect of a newly built container terminal.
The best-rated port as calculated by UNCTAD this year is China's Shanghai, with an index of 134.32, followed by Pusan in South Korea, China's Ningbo, and the port in Hong Kong.
In the top ten ports in the world according to the LSCI index, only two are European ports - as expected, Antwerp ranked 6th with an index of 93.73 and Rotterdam ranked 7th with an index of 92.75.
For comparison (if there can be comparisons made between these ports and Rijeka at all, given the scale of container traffic), the Rijeka index is 35.21, which is nearly three times lower than the best-ranked European ports, but it should be noted that in the thirteen years since the publication of UNCTAD's list of best-connected ports, the LSCI index for Rijeka has increased by 3.5 times, from an initial 9.98 2006, to the current 35.21, which is in line with the growth of container traffic over the last decade in the ports of the Northern Adriatic in general, as well as in Rijeka.
Otherwise, from the container ports located in the Northern Adriatic, among the top 100 in terms of connectivity are Koper (Slovenia) and Trieste (Italy), with the Slovenian port ranked 80th in the world, with an index of 36.74, and the Italian port ranked in 84th place, just two places ahead of the Port of Rijeka, with an index of 35.54.
Since the beginning of the publication of this index back in 2006, in terms of connectivity index, all three ports have advanced significantly, Koper was still the best placed, at 168th place, while the ports of Rijeka and Trieste were below 200th place.
The current difference in position of just a few places shows that the connectivity of all three Northern Adriatic ports has more or less equalised. It should be noted, however, that both of the aforementioned foreign ports are far ahead of the Port of Rijeka in terms of container traffic. Last year, Koper recorded a figure of 988 thousand TEUs, which is obviously close to one million, Trieste had 625 thousand TEUs, while the "dial" at Rijeka's Brajdica stood at 227 thousand TEUs, Novi list writes.
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