Nonetheless, the container handling business has demonstrated
that private operators have been keen to capture
the benefits of consolidation across the EU. For example,
global terminal operators such as Hong Kong’s Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), PSA corporation and P&O ports have developed an EU-wide network to include their presence in the Mediterranean, Hamburg-Le Havre range and the UK; their strategic decisions have played an essential role due to the importance of the Mediterranean as both transshipment and gateway zone on the Europe-Asia trade route. It is therefore unsurprising in our analysis to find high concentrations of global terminal operators in the Mediterranean Basin.