Port charges in Spain: the roles of regulation and market forces

This article examines relationships that influence traffic volumes and the revenues per tonne generated by Spain's port authorities. The strong differences between regulations by port authorities provide some scope for price competition. We find a strong relationship between port charges and the amount of traffic that a port is able to generate. Furthermore, we find clear evidence of local price competition between port authorities. The effects of global competitive factors are mixed. Port revenues per tonne are higher in ports operating more international regular lines and with multinational terminal operators, while they are lower in ports with nearby competing facilities and where the market share of the dominant shipping firm is high.