An efficiency analysis of container terminals in Southern Vietnam using DEA dynamic efficiency evaluation

Southern Vietnam is a key economic region for the country, producing 45% of Vietnam’s GDP, despite only accounting for 9% of the country’s total landmass and 21% of its population. Specifically, the Southern Region dominates seaport-based container transportation, contributing 55% of Vietnam’s total vessel calls and 74% of its total container cargo volume, with the North and Central regions trailing far behind. However, despite the sector’s importance, the efficiency of container terminals in Southern Vietnam has not been evaluated by the literature in recent years. This study fills this research gap by using data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the efficiency of major container terminals in Southern Vietnam. The results of the DEA Malmquist analysis show that most container terminals demonstrated productivity growth between 2017 and 2019, and that this mainly derived from advancements in catch-up operational efficiency and in technological innovation. Moreover, the DEA slack-based measure and DEA undesirable output analyses demonstrate that three container terminals (Cai Mep International Terminal, Tan Cang Cat Lai, and Tan Cang–Cai Mep International Terminal) achieved the maximum efficiency level when both applying and not applying the undesirable output variable. However, other container terminals displayed severe operational inefficiency, with these terminals’ efficiency values decreasing by between 9% and 40% when considering undesirable outputs. The ineffective terminals can therefore be categorized as consuming excessive inputs and lacking in the production of desirable outputs or creating large amounts of undesirable outputs. Therefore, using these results, port authorities and policymakers should be better placed to develop appropriate strategies for managing container terminals in Southern Vietnam.