Search

Global shipping is a backbone of the global economy, and as such, it evolves alongside the development of trade and the elaboration of commodity chains. This paper investigates the evolution of regional inequality in the global shipping network by analyzing the changing positions of world regions during the period from 2001 to 2012. This was a period of both prosperity and recession in maritime shipping. Using data on inter-regional flow connections, the positions of seventeen regions in the global shipping network are analyzed in terms of their traffic development, centrality, dominance and vulnerability. The East Asian, Northwest European and Europe Mediterranean regions have consistently held the highest positions, while East African and North African regions have held the lowest positions. By commanding the largest flows in the network, East Asia assumes a dominant position. The Australasian, North American West Coast, Northwest European and Southern African regions show an increasing dependency on East Asia. The analysis also identifies a few emerging regions that have had the highest growth rates in total traffic volume and connectivity for the studied period, namely South American North Coast, South American East Coast, West Africa, Southern Africa and West Asia. The empirical results of this paper supplement existing research on global shipping network evolution. One implication of the analysis is that the traffic growth of East Asia does not imply that, there is an equivalent improvement in its position in the global shipping network. The paper also shows that indicators from network analysis may be used to provide a more nuanced understanding of port-regional development than existing measures based solely on total traffic volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a comprehensive exploration and discussion of the evolution of China's interregional coal trade from a continuous time series perspective. First, structure analysis shows that China's coal trade network (CCTN) has a small-world phenomenon, indicating that a handful of regions own many coal trade partners and a marked majority of regions own a few. Then, we find that the betweenness centrality of the CCTN tends to move to southern regions from northern regions in terms of geographical distribution. Furthermore, according to the calculation by UCINET, the whole network can be clearly divided into 4 subgroups, and the structure of the subgroups indicates that the majority of regions tend to have trade relationships with geographically close regions. And finally, the CCTN is much less vulnerable overall than in the past. However, there is no change in the fact that the removal of only 10 bottleneck nodes can reduce the main cluster to a size representing less than 50% of the original network over the whole period observed, and this should be considered by policy makers. • China's coal trade network (CCTN) has a small-world phenomenon. • The betweenness centrality of the CCTN tends to move to southern regions from northern regions. • CCTN can be clearly divided into 4 subgroups. • CCTN is much less vulnerable overall than in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The global coal import competition network is tight. • Japan and China have made coal competition on the Asian-Pacific region more drastic. • The competition intensity of European importers is becoming weaker. • Asian countries should make out strategies to decrease the carbon dioxide emission. Until today, the volume and trade relationships of the global coal trade still follow an increasing trend, which adversely affects both the environment and coal supply security. However, whether the possibility exists to change this trend to a decrease in global coal trade competition remains unknown. If this were possible, the volume and relationships of coal trade would gradually decrease. To address this question, this paper applies the complex network model and comprehensively explores the dynamic competitive relationship and intensity among the global coal import trade. At the global level, the results indicate that more competitive relationships regarding coal imports emerge, and the coal import competition network has changed from a core periphery structure to a reticular structure. In addition, the competitive intensity of the global coal trade continues to rise. At the regional level, the role of the Asian-Pacific region, led by Japan and China, in the evolution of this competitive pattern is increasingly becoming prominent. In contrast, the competitive intensity of European importers has declined since 2007. At the national level, Japan bore the greatest competitive pressure among all coal-importing countries from 1998 to 2007, when it was replaced by China. The intensity of competition in China has increased fiercely, from seventh in 2009 to first in 2016. Finally, based on the results, meaningful policy implications are presented. For example, it is recommended that the result of record-high levels of coal competition in Asia should receive more attention, and a more appropriate use of coal should be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]