PR Log (Press Release) –
Jan 17, 2010 – France is preparing to restructure its freight transport sector, with an emphasis on increasing the percentage carried by rail by transferring freight typically carried by road onto rail. The switch will be helped by the fact that France's rail freight sector has become more competitive since its liberalisation in 2003, as new operators have entered the market, and the fact that France's rail freight links to major trading partners have improved and are continuing to do so. On the back of the Grenelle Environment Forum in November 2007, the French government has proposed legislation to increase the percentage of freight not carried by road from 14% to 25% by 2012. BMI notes that road freight currently makes up the largest percentage of freight carried in France, at 68%. Rail freight, on the other hand, accounts for just 14%. France has been preparing its strategy to move freight off the roads and onto rail. The French rail sector has been liberalised, with independent operators able to operate in France since 2003. This has lead to heightened competition, which has led to more competitive freight rates. Some of Europe's main rail freight companies have entered the sector through subsidiary units and, according to the Invest in France Agency (IFA), these include Germany's DB Schenker and Rail 4 Chem, the UK's Euro Cargo Rail, Switzerland's BLS Cargo and CFF Cargo, France's SNCF subsidiary VFLI and Veolia Transport's unit Veolia Cargo, as well as a company jointly run by Luxembourg Railways and Arcelor Mital, CFL Cargo, and a subsidiary operated by Eurotunnel, Europorte 2. France's plans to shift road freight onto rail have been helped by investment not only into the country's rail infrastructure but also in rail links to its neighbours. BMI notes that France's main trading partners are based in Europe, with Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and the UK topping the list. Rail transport between France, Italy, and Germany is to be improved with the Lötschberg Base Tunnel, which opened in December 2007, and the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which is due to open in 2018. The tunnels go under the Swiss Alps and will cut rail freight journey times. This will make it more economically viable for freight to go by rail to Italy and Germany. We note that a similar situation arose when the Channel Tunnel opened in 1994. Freight that had been carried by trucks via ferry across the Channel could now reach the UK more quickly by rail. France's decision to reduce its road freight percentage and increase rail's share can be attributed to a number of factors. The country's roads and motorways are congested, and this would be alleviated if more freight were carried by rail. The strategy would also align France with the EU's aim of switching half of cargo currently transported by road onto the European rail network. This is related to plans to reduce the EU's carbon emissions. France's plans to reduce road transport are to be viewed as part of the country's plan to reduce its emissions by 20% by 2020. In BMI's newly released France Freight Transport Report, we forecast that rail freight traffic, measured in million-tonne kilometres (mntkm), will rise by an annual average of 1.4% over the next five years (2009-2013). Overall freight traffic, across all modes, will also grow by 1.4% per annum over the next five years. This is slower than the 1.8% registered in the preceding five-year period. By 2013, we calculate that the value of the transport and communications sector will have reached US$205.2bn, or 7.2% of GDP. Successive French governments have favoured public investment in big infrastructure projects, particularly in airports, railways, and highways. While arguably the emerging global slowdown means this will not be sustainable, some of the benefits, in terms of increased capacity, will make themselves felt within our forecast period. The emphasis on building key private sector companies up into 'national champions', while heavily criticised for its anti-competitive overtones, may also deliver some advantages. Air France-KLM is a good example. Supported by the government, the merged airline is now one of the largest European carriers, and well placed to benefit from the expected shakeout and consolidation process in European aviation over the next few years. The other side of the coin, however, is that France has been slow to welcome (and indeed, in some cases seems to actively block) the advent of the budget airlines, which have swept across much of Europe. Our forecasts for the French industry are informed by the pan-European economic slowdown we are now expecting over 2009 and 2010. We see airfreight leading the way with average annual growth of 1.6%, followed by pipeline throughput (1.5%), road and rail (both at 1.4%), sea cargo (1.2%) and inland waterways (1.1%). BMI's freight industry business environment rating gives France a score of 59.9 (out of a theoretical maximum of 100), placing at the higher end of the European ranking. On the downside, and putting Air France-KLM to one side for a moment, the French freight industry has not yet developed its full international potential. BMI's conclusion is that the industry as a whole has solid foundations in the domestic market and, when international economic conditions become more supportive, may yet be able to build on these to support a bigger global role.
For more information or to purchase this report, go to:
- http://www.fastmr.com/prod/47436_france_freight_transpor ...
About Business Monitor International
Business Monitor International (BMI) offers a comprehensive range of products and services designed to help senior executives, analysts and researchers assess and better manage operating risks, and exploit business opportunities, across 175 markets. BMI offers three main areas of expertise: Country Risk BMI's country risk and macroeconomic forecast portfolio includes weekly financial market reports, monthly regional Monitors, and in-depth quarterly Business Forecast Reports. Industry Analysis BMI covers a total of 17 industry verticals through a portfolio of services, including in-depth quarterly Country Forecast Reports. View more research from Business Monitor International at http://www.fastmr.com/catalog/publishers.aspx?pubid=1010
About Fast Market Research
Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. We represent the world's top research publishers and analysts and provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available.
For more information about these or related research reports, please visit our website at http://www.fastmr.com or call us at 1.800.844.8156.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment