Importance économique du Port Autonome de Liège: rapport 2003

The Port Autonome de Liège, with its 26 kilometres of berths and several multimodal platforms, plays an important role in the Walloon and Belgian economy. This update paper gives an extensive overview of the economic importance and the latest developments of the Port Autonome de Liège, through revised results for the period 1997 - 2003. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, it also provides some information about the financial situation of a few vital sectors. An indication concerning the financial health of the companies studied is also provided, using the National Bank's bankruptcy prediction model. In addition, it includes figures of several cargo traffics and draws a picture of social developments in the Port Autonome de Liège. Annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. The indirect effects of these port activities are estimated in terms of value added (VA) and employment, on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. In the Liège harbour's network, direct VA came to 1 billion euro and total VA - the sum of direct and indirect VA - to 2 billion euro in 2003. In the same year direct and total employment respectively attained 12,400 and 28,500 fulltime equivalents, while investment directly linked with the port fell to 121 million euro. The position of the Port Autonome de Liège as the second largest inland port in Europe is threatened by the planned closure of the Cockerill Sambre's blast furnaces. This will take place gradually but will be completed by 2009. 2,700 direct and 4,500 indirect jobs are concerned, as well as 8 million tonnes of transhipment. However new spaces will be opened up, which means that new businesses will be created in the port area. New development sites are under construction and will soon be operative. An overall restructuring of the Liège harbour's network is under way and constitutes the main challenge for the Port Autonome de Liège's authorities in the next five years. In spite of this climate of uncertainty, the Port Autonome de Liège is striving to establish itself as a major logistic centre in the region, able to add value to the goods passing through it, in order to withstand the climate of increasing regional and international competition.branch survey, maritime cluster, subcontracting, indirect effects, transport intermodality, public investments.

Importance économique du Port Autonome de Liège: rapport 2002

This paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Port Autonome de Liège, over the period 1997 - 2002. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, salaried employment and investment, it also provides information about the financial situation of some vital segments in this inland port. In addition, it includes figures with respect to the ongoing growth of several cargo traffic segments and attempts to establish a link between these and the progress of the production in the industries at stake. The breakthrough of this research - compared to its first edition issued last year - consists of evaluating the indirect effects of the sectors in question in terms of value added and employment. A few refinements have also been made, such as the routine geographical and functional selection of companies according to the cluster they belong to (NACE-Bel code approach), the limitation of administrative work incurred, the review of the company-size analysis, etc. Annual reports data from the Central Balance Sheet have been computed for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. For the estimation of indirect effects, Supply and Use Tables from the National Accounts Institute have been resorted to. The developments in inland ports are numerous nowadays, as a parallel to the ever congesting road networks and the growing maritime traffic (e.g. increase in containerized shipments). The Port Autonome de Liège is the second largest inland port in Europe and therefore plays an important role in the development of inland waterways and of their traffic. Moreover, as it is the case for the maritime ports, the increase in scale and specialization of the vessels inevitably impacts the operation of this port. Production, trade and transport are no longer considered as individual, isolated activities, but are integrated within a single system. Therefore, ports have to evolve from mere centres of transport (discharging and loading of vessels) to logistic centres. The Port Autonome de Liège is a very good example of this evolution as it offers high-quality connections with the railways, motorways and the Liège airport. Intermodality is a great asset for the Port Autonome de Liège and is the spearhead of its future.branch survey, maritime cluster, subcontracting, indirect effects, transport intermodality, public investments.

Economic Importance of Air Transport and Airport Activities in Belgium. NBB Working Papers. No. 158, 10 March 2009

This study is a publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium, in partnership with the Department of Transport and Regional Economics of the University of Antwerp (UA). It is the outcome of a first research project on the Belgian airport and air transport sector. The former relates to the economic activities within the airports of Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Kortrijk, Liège and Ostend, while the latter concentrates on the air transport business as a whole. In the past few years, the logistics business has come to play a significant part in income creation in our country, whose economy is to a large extent driven by services. Air transport and airports in particular are driving forces in this context, not only in terms of business generated within the air transport cluster, but also in terms of airports' attractiveness. On world scale an overall growth of cargo and passengers could be observed in the last ten years. However, the air transport sector has undergone a major crisis during the 2001-2003 period, when passenger traffic numbers first fell sharply and then stagnated. Only after 2003 this activity has picked up again and this until the third quarter of 2008. Cargo traffic on its part recovered already in 2002. In Belgium, a similar evolution can be observed. It should be stressed however that between 1997 and 2007 cargo volumes grew much faster than passenger traffic did. The rankings of European airports underline the importance of cargo traffic for Belgium: In 2006 Brussels, Liège and Ostend-Bruges respectively occupy ranks 6, 8, and 20 in the European cargo airport top 20, while for passenger airports, Brussels can only be found at the end of the top 20. In this study, a sectoral approach has been followed by focusing, for every airport, on two major economic activity components: the air transport cluster on the one hand and other airport-related sectors on the other hand. In that respect, annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the social balance sheet analysis and the study of financial ratios. Due to an inevitable time lag in the data provision, the analysis was limited to 2006. Like in other sectoral studies published by the Bank, indirect effects have also been estimated on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. In 2006, the total activities under review –direct and indirect, inside and outside airports- accounted for roughly 6.2 billion euro, i.e. 2 p.c. of Belgium's GDP and domestic employment. Considering the direct effects only, these percentages both amounted to 0.8 p.c. The three major airports, i.e. Brussels, Charleroi and Liège, alone account for 95.2 p.c. of the direct value added generated by the six airports under review. They represent 0.5 p.c. of Belgian GDP and, taking account of the indirect effects, 1.1 p.c. of the national income. Furthermore, it has to be pointed out that most Belgian airports are specialised. While the airports of Liège and Ostend focus on air cargo, Charleroi Airport deals mostly with low-cost passenger transport. Moreover, the smaller regional airports like Antwerp and Kortrijk focus on business travel

Economic Importance of Air Transport and Airport Activities in Belgium

This study is a publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium, in partnership with the Department of Transport and Regional Economics of the University of Antwerp (UA). It is the outcome of a first research project on the Belgian airport and air transport sector. The former relates to the economic activities within the airports of Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Kortrijk, Liège and Ostend, while the latter concentrates on the air transport business as a whole. In the past few years, the logistics business has come to play a significant part in income creation in our country, whose economy is to a large extent driven by services1. Air transport and airports in particular are driving forces in this context, not only in terms of business generated within the air transport cluster, but also in terms of airports' attractiveness. On world scale an overall growth of cargo and passengers could be observed in the last ten years. However, the air transport sector has undergone a major crisis during the 2001-2003 period, when passenger traffic numbers first fell sharply and then stagnated. Only after 2003 this activity has picked up again and this until the third quarter of 2008. Cargo traffic on its part recovered already in 2002. In Belgium, a similar evolution can be observed. It should be stressed however that between 1997 and 2007 cargo volumes grew much faster than passenger traffic did. The rankings of European airports underline the importance of cargo traffic for Belgium: In 2006 Brussels, Liège and Ostend-Bruges respectively occupy ranks 6, 8, and 20 in the European cargo airport top 20, while for passenger airports, Brussels can only be found at the end of the top 20. In this study, a sectoral approach has been followed by focusing, for every airport, on two major economic activity components: the air transport cluster on the one hand and other airport-related sectors on the other hand. In that respect, annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the social balance sheet analysis and the study of financial ratios. Due to an inevitable time lag in the data provision, the analysis was limited to 2006. Like in other sectoral studies published by the Bank, indirect effects have also been estimated on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. In 2006, the total activities under review –direct and indirect, inside and outside airports- accounted for roughly 6.2 billion euro, i.e. 2 p.c. of Belgium's GDP and domestic employment. Considering the direct effects only, these percentages both amounted to 0.8 p.c. The three major airports, i.e. Brussels, Charleroi and Liège, alone account for 95.2 p.c. of the direct value added generated by the six airports under review. They represent 0.5 p.c. of Belgian GDP and, taking account of the indirect effects, 1.1 p.c. of the national income. Furthermore, it has to be pointed out that most Belgian airports are specialised. While the airports of Liège and Ostend focus on air cargo, Charleroi Airport deals mostly with low-cost passenger transport. Moreover, the smaller regional airports like Antwerp and Kortrijk focus on business travel. The analysis was completed in December 2008air transport, airport activities, sector analysis, indirect effect, public investments UA,

The Belgian Iron and Steel Industry in the International Context

This paper provides a survey of the main developments in the iron and steel industry over the last few decades. The first chapter covers the changing conditions on international markets and identifies the main challenges facing the companies in this sector. These include the boom in China, the increasing prices of steel and raw materials, the wave of mergers and acquisitions as well as the implementation of environmental regulations, in particular the Kyoto Protocol. Against the backdrop of the worsening global economic crisis, market conditions for steel are also set to change markedly, at least in the medium term. The second chapter provides an assessment of the Belgian iron and steel sector's economic impact, in terms of direct value added, employment and investment. The chapter also includes an evaluation of the indirect effects of the sector, both upstream and downstreambranch survey, iron and steel industry, market structure, indirect effects

Trend in the financial structure and results of firms in 2005

Each year, the National Bank examines the situation regarding the annual accounts of Belgian non-financial corporations. By that time, the Central Balance Sheet Office has already collected a representative number of annual accounts for the preceding year. The article is in three parts. The first part describes the methodology used and the sample. The second part studies the main developments in the profit and loss account. Finally, the third part contains a financial analysis of Belgian companies ; this analysis is supplemented by the interpretation of the results of the failure prediction model developed by the Bank. In 2005, the total value added created by Belgian non financial corporations increased by 4 p.c., constituting a slowdown in comparison with 2004. At the same time, the operating costs (mainly personnel costs and depreciation) grew by 2.8 p.c. So, for the third year in a row, value added growth greatly exceeded the rise in operating costs. As a result, the net operating profit increased by 8.4 p.c., after having already produced an exceptional increase in 2003 and 2004. In three years, the operating profit gained 12 billion euro or 70 p.c. After taking into account the other elements of the results, and particularly the financial and exceptional results, non financial corporations made a net profit after tax of 41 billion euro, representing a strong increase in comparison with 2004. Return on equity increased significantly in 2005 in the largest companies. The slight decline in the leverage effect had a positive influence on financial independence and, due to historically low interest rates, the associated charges continued to fall. The net working capital of large companies and SMEs went up, while the working capital needs of the former tend to exceed their net working capital. Investments caught up in 2005 in the major companies, mainly in the non manufacturing sector, but in terms of the median value there was a slight decline, linked to lower use of production capacity. Rising amounts invested in R&D were concentrated on a smaller number of companies. As far as financial risks are concerned, they levelled off in 2005, after several years of decline.firms results, financial structure, bankruptcy prediction, sectoral analysis

Economisch belang van de Vlaamse zeehavens: verslag 2003

The Flemish maritime ports play a major role in the Belgian economy, not only in terms of the industries they encompass but also as intermodal centres where transhipment activities are concentrated. This update1 paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports, through revised results for the period 1997 - 2003. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, it also provides some information about the financial situation of a few vital sectors in each port. A global indication concerning the financial health of the companies studied is also provided, using the NBB bankruptcy prediction model. In addition, it includes figures with respect to the ongoing growth of several cargo traffic segments and provides an overall picture of social developments in the Flemish maritime ports. The indirect effects of these port activities are estimated in terms of value added and employment. Annual account data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. The indirect effects were estimated on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. In the Flemish maritime ports, direct VA came to almost 11.5 billion euro and total VA - the sum of direct and indirect VA - to 22 billion euro in 2003. In the same year direct and total employment reached respectively 105,000 and 239,000 full-time equivalents, while direct investment reached 2.5 billion euro. The ongoing developments in the maritime ports sector in the Hamburg - Le Havre range continue to affect the port operations: concentration of capital, privatisation of port logistic services, expansion and dispersion of foreign trade, internationalisation of production and consumption patterns, increase in containerised shipments, etc. Production, trade and transport are no longer considered as individual and isolated activities, but are integrated within a single system, while economies of scale continue. Therefore, ports are becoming real logistic centres: ports able to add value to the goods passing through the port area have a major advantage in a climate of increasing international competition. Flemish ports are following this trend, and that is also reflected in the analysis presented in this report.branch survey, maritime cluster, subcontracting, indirect effects, transport intermodality, public investments.

Importance économique des ports belges : ports maritimes flamands et complexe portuaire liégeois. Rapport 2004

This paper is an annual publication prepared by the Microeconomic Analysis unit of the National Bank of Belgium. The Flemish maritime ports -Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Zeebrugge- and the Autonomous Port of Liège play a major role in their respective regional economies and in the Belgian economy, not only in terms of the industries they encompass but also as intermodal centres where transhipment and industrial activities are concentrated. This update1 paper provides for the first time an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports together with the Liège port complex in 2004. The results for the rest of the period 1999 - 2003 have also been updated. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, the report also provides some information about the financial situation of several vital sectors in each port. A global indication concerning the financial health of the companies studied is also provided, using the NBB bankruptcy prediction model. In addition, it includes figures with respect to the ongoing growth of several cargo traffic segments and provides an overall picture of socio-economic developments in the ports. Annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. The indirect effects of the activities concerned were estimated in terms of value added and employment, on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. 2004 was an excellent year for the Flemish maritime ports as a whole, in terms of the quantity of handled cargo and the value added produced. But the employment situation was more mixed, and private investment dropped. The ongoing developments in the maritime ports sector and in the world economy are having a dramatic impact on the operations of the Flemish ports, which have to deal with the global trend of increasing international competition, expansion and dispersion of foreign trade, capital concentration, privatisation and vertical integration of port logistic services, increase in containerised shipments, and so forth. At the same time, as major logistic centres, they have to face a dual challenge: increasing demand in terms of capacity, and the necessity to add climate of increasing regional and international competition, not only within the Hamburg - Le Havre range but also from Asian markets. The port of Liège, still the second largest inland port in Europe, is striving to turn a threat into an opportunity. Although the Cockerill Sambre blast furnaces are being closed, that is creating new space and the overall Liège port complex is being restructured. In spite of this climate of uncertainty, the main goal of the Autonomous Port of Liège is to establish itself as a major logistic centre in the region, able to attract new businesses. In the meantime, the short-term impact on employment is negative, as direct employment decreased substantially in 2004, whereas value added and investment made up for the ground lost in 2003. The present report tackles all these issues by giving details per economic sector.branch survey, maritime cluster, subcontracting, indirect effects, transport intermodality, public investments.

Economic importance of the Flemish maritime ports: Report 2002

This paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports, over the period 1995 - 2002. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, it also provides some information about the financial situation of a few vital segments in each port. In addition, it includes figures with respect to the ongoing growth of several cargo traffic segments and attempts to establish a link between these and the progress of the production in the industries at stake. The breakthrough of this research - compared to its previous editions - consists of evaluating the indirect effects of the sectors in question in terms of value added and employment. A few refinements have also been made, such as the routine geographical and functional selection of companies according to the cluster they belong to (NACE-Bel code pproach), the limitation of administrative work incurred, the review of the companysize nalysis, etc. Annual reports data from the Central Balance Sheet have been computed for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. For the estimation of indirect effects, Supply and Use Tables from the National Accounts Institute have been resorted to. The developments in the maritime ports sector are numerous nowadays, namely in the Hamburg - Le Havre range: concentration of capital, privatization of ports logistics services, expansion and dispersion of foreign trade, the internationalization of the production and consumption patterns (e.g. increase in containerized shipments), the latest requirements of world trade concerning transport and distribution. The increase in scale and specialization of the vessels inevitably impact on the operation of the ports. Production, trade and transport are not longer considered as individual, isolated activities, but are integrated in a single system. Therefore, ports have to evolve from mere centres of transport (discharging and loading of vessels) to logistics centres. Moreover, ports able to add value to the goods passing through the port area, have a major asset in a climate of increasing international competition. These developments are also mentioned in this report, since no Flemish port is an exception to this rule.branch survey, maritime cluster, subcontracting, indirect effects, transport intermodality, public investments

Economic Importance of Belgian Transport Logistics. NBB Working Papers No. 125, 9 January 2008

This paper is the outcome of a first research project on the Belgian transport logistics sectors. In the past few years, the logistics business has turned out to play a significant part in wealth creation in our country, whose economy is driven by services. An overview of some developments per sub-sector is provided for the period 2000 2005, with the emphasis on 2005. The core of the analysis looks more specifically into developments in terms of value added, employment, investment and the financial situation of the companies concerned. A first estimate is also provided for 2006