In the global economy, every change in the container transport market symbolizes countless business opportunities and challenges. Recently, the port of Liverpool, which has been considered the main port in the West of the United Kingdom, has decided to cut jobs due to the continued deterioration of the global container transport market, this unusual move has undoubtedly sparked a global swing.

1) Accumulation of history
Liverpool Port, the port with 35 million consumers, plays a crucial role in the long river of history. By 2022, the port completed a cargo flow of up to 3.362 million tons and container flow of up to 790,000 boxes, making it the fourth largest port in the UK.

2) Due to difficulties
Faced with a severe deterioration in the global container transport market, the port’s terminal utilization rate in 2022 was only 52.6 percent, less than 100,000 before the outbreak. The situation in 2023 appears to be even more severe, with one of the main transatlantic routes reducing the first-way freight volume by about 500,000 compared to 14 percent.

Disasters between British and European ports
The ice-cold data behind Liverpool Port reflects the collective trouble of ports across the UK and even Europe and the United Kingdom. The main container cargo sources in the UK ports come from Asia and the EU region, hit by the decline in domestic demand and the double blow of Brexit, with the container output of the UK main ports falling 6.6% compared to 2022.

Unknown fate of other ports
For other ports that don’t get as much attention as Liverpool, the extent of their salary cuts and job cuts remains unknown.

1) Playing with trade unions
In a game against the trade unions, Liverpool has paid a lot of money.Employment is always a very sensitive political issue, especially in European and American countries, where trade unions often have a strong power.

Self-Rescue at Peel Ports
When Peel Ports released its 2022 financial year report, it said that cuts were a must-go path to keep the cost base in line with the economic outlook.While cuts were inevitable, the group still said it would help the dismissed employees re-employment in other positions within the group as much as possible.

The future of the transport market
The future of the global container transport market is full of variables, especially in the current situation of this continuing deterioration, with other port operators on the market facing similar challenges.

2) The Path to Survive
In the face of all this, how to find new opportunities for survival and development in the large environment of the container transport market, has become a big issue before all ports.

Liverpool Port’s job cuts are not just a port’s self-adjustment, but also a summary of the current status of the global container transport market. Facing the future, where this market will go and how each port will find its own way out, it is worth our further attention and reflection.