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Unit Aims, Objectives and Prerequisites
C.6.1 The container terminal and international trade

1. Unit Aims

This Unit is designed:

1. To discuss the need for, nature of and benefits resulting from international trade.
2. To explain the importance of transport to international trade.
3. To define and explain a producer’s production, marketing and distribution costs, and show how they can be calculated.
4. To assess the relative contribution made by maritime transport costs to distribution costs.
5. To establish the fundamental importance of port/terminal efficiency in controlling maritime transport costs.

2. Unit Objectives

After completing this Unit, the learner will be able to:

1. Explain why it is necessary for a country to take part in international trade, the circumstances which make that trade possible, and the benefits that result from it.
2. Outline the importance to international trade of transport (particularly maritime transport) systems and of recent and current developments in cargo transport.
3. State which expenditure components make up a producer’s production costs.
4. Given the individual production costs, calculate how much in total they contribute towards the cost of each item produced.
5. List and explain the components that make up the cost of marketing a product.
6. Given the costs of the individual marketing activities relating to a particular product, calculate the per-item contribution they make to the product’s cost price.
7. List and explain the significance and relative importance of the components of an exporter’s distribution costs.
8. Given the costs of the various components of an exporter’s distribution costs, calculate the per-item contribution they make to the product’s cost price.
9. List and explain the four factors that influence the contribution made by maritime transport costs, and particularly port/ terminal costs, to shippers’ distribution costs.
10. Demonstrate how improved operational efficiency at a port/terminal can benefit its users.
11. Define, recognize the best definition of, or distinguish between true and false statements concerning, the technical terms used in the Unit, as listed in Sections 3 and 4 below.

3. Unit Prerequisites

It is assumed that trainees will, before starting this Unit, have completed successfully the following Unit or will have demonstrated (for example by successfully completing the Test for the Unit) their understanding of the topics covered by it:

• Container terminal operations (C.1.1)