Konkurrensyta land–sjö för svenska godstransporter

This project aims to investigate the competition between road and rail transports on one hand and the sea transports on the other. Shippers choose different unimodal or multimodal transport chains to carry various types of goods in, to and from Sweden. Transport prices are a key factor when choosing the transport chain. Sea transport prices are set on the world market and fluctuate more than prices for road and rail transports. Imbalances in transport flows also affect the intermodal competition, in particular for transports to/from mainland Europe. According to the statistics the modal split, measured in tonne-kilometers on Swedish territory (including a stretch along the coast) has been relatively constant since 1990. Nearly 40 percent of the tonne-kilometers are carried out by road, nearly 40 per cent by sea and a bit more than 20 per cent by rail. Sweden had so far by definition not inland waterway transports. Simulations with the national Swedish freight model Samgods with ten percent lower on-route costs for vessels indicate different adaptations for different commodity groups. The tonne-kilometers by sea performed on the Swedish territory are expected to increase by about two per cent if all 33 commodities are included. However, for Cement, lime and building materials and Pulp, paper and paper waste increases of almost ten percent are computed. On the other hand, no significant changes in demand are calculated for i.e. Crude oil, which is carried exclusively by sea today. As expected, more competition between the land-based modes and sea transports is calculated for international transports than for domestic transports. If all commodities are included, the largest increases for sea transports are calculated along the Eastern coast (southern part), the Southern coast and through the Kiel Canal. Sea transports are also calculated to increase along the coast in the North of Sweden and to/from Gothenburg on the Western coast. Reductions are expected to occur for both road and rail. The authors emphasize that the results should be seen as indicative.