Projects
Our network of experts have been serving customers across the globe for more than 16 years
More than 150 engagements, across 20 countries,
on-time and on-budget
Ports
Business valuation of a portfolio of maritime terminals
Due diligence | market research | opex | capex | strategy | transaction advisory
Why?
- Owner of target assets needed capital to modernize its terminals and monetize future value creation strategies.
What?
- Conducted technical, commercial, financial, and operational due diligence.
- Evaluated maritime terminals in Latin America, North America, Europe, and the Middle East.
How?
- Conducted site visits, market research, and technical assessment of fixed assets (elevators, conveyors, loaders, harbors, storage, etc).
- Analyzed major trends in the shipping industry, its relevant trades (imp+ exp), market demand, and freight rates.
- Analyzed products for food, animal feed, industrial and energy uses and identified value-creating opportunities.
Results
- Market demand and feasibility study.
- Terms of reference for the transaction.
Top carriers by operating capacity active + on order, million TEU (20ft equivalent units)
Change in net income
Marine highways & containers on barge
Port strategic plan and feasibility study
Master planning | market research | opex | capex | benefit-cost analysis | economic impacts | P3 | federal grand application
Port master plan
Benefit-cost analysis framework
Why?
- The Port Authority was looking to provide a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly shipping route alternative to US farmers.
What?
- Conducted market research, commercial, financial, and economic feasibility analysis for this port master plan.
- Evaluated marine terminals in the Mississippi, Illinois, and Missouri rivers and respective marine highways.
How?
- Designed the conceptual master plan for provision of terminal and marine infrastructure necessary to start container on barge (COB).
- Conducted market analysis, route economics evaluation, terminal layout, and operations.
- Evaluated benefit-costs, economic impacts, and environmental regulatory requirements to structure a public-private partnership (P3).
Results
- Port strategic plan and feasibility study.
- Federal grant application and successful project funding.
Rail
US-China supply chain optimization for soybeans
Market research | infrastructure assessment | route costs | rail demand modeling | benefit-cost analysis
Why?
- A grain coalition needed an analytical framework to identify, quantify, and evaluate a supply chain alternatives for soybean farmers.
What?
- Evaluated the actual and potential performance of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers as a supply chain option for soybean farmers.
- Identified potential infrastructure that could enhance the river as a more efficient and carbon-friendly supply chain alternative.
How?
- Conducted a geospatial analysis (GIS) to define the current draw areas and the mix of agribulk commodities for the Missouri River.
- Analyzed major trends in the agribulk shipping industry, US relevant trades (imp+ exp), market demand, and freight rates.
- Evaluated route costs for incumbent routes (rail) against routes facilitated by the planned infrastructure projects (barge).
Results
- Benefit-cost analysis (BCA) compliant with DOT requirements.
- Robust tool for state and federal legislative processes.
Rail modeling for Kansas
agricultural exports
Kansas railcar trafficfor Class I operator
Airports
International airport feasibility study
Master planning | market research | opex | capex | benefit-cost analysis | economic impacts | P3 | government grant application
Aircraft payload-range model
Freight imports from South / Central America
Why?
- Airport operator needed capital to modernize and expand its terminals and monetize future value creation strategies.
What?
- Conducted commercial, financial, and operational due diligence for an international airport.
- Evaluated air cargo routes for South America, North America, Europe, and Asia and domestic and international passenger routes.
How?
- Conducted site visits, field market research, and technical assessment of fixed assets serving the movement of air cargo.
- Analyzed major trends for integrated express air carriers, their relevant trades (imp + exp), market demand, and freight rates.
- Assessed global supply chains including manufacturing facilities for automotive, aerospatial, appliances, and perishables.
Results
- Market demand and feasibility study.
- Terms or reference for the transaction.
Urban planning & real estate
Infrastructure impacts on real estate property values for value capture
Economic development | econometric analysis | GIS | land use opportunity zones | tax increment financing | value capture | P3
Why?
- Governments aim to quantify the economic value created by transportation and capture/monetize it for infrastructure financing.
What?
- The hypothesis tested is that transportation infrastructure proximity and accessibility impact real estate property values.
- Local governments aim to anticipate and capture the economic value created by transportation to fund capacity expansions.
How?
- Applied classification, clustering, and regression algorithms to convert data from 352K parcels into bonding capacity information.
- Estimated three hedonic equations: (i) total-value model, (ii) improvement-value model, and (iii) land-value model.
- Empirical analysis was conducted using K-nearest neighbor and geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis.
Results
- Real estate property value econometric models.
- Technical report, scientific peer-reviewed publications, policy.
Funding & financing mechanisms
Value capture mechanism
State freight plans
Agribusiness commodity flow study
State freight plans | freight demand modeling | O-D commodity flows | GIS | analytics | route costs | ocean | rail | truck | barge
O-D commodity flows
Grain elevators on rail network
Why?
- The Kansas Department of Agriculture needed an analytical framework to identify challenges for farmers in the freight system.
What?
- Identified commodity markets and how these commodities flow from producers through markets to processors and end users.
- Analyzed origin-destination patterns, modal split, and domestic and international commodity flows inside and outside of Kansas.
How?
- Conducted market research and technical assessment of fixed assets (elevators, conveyors, loaders, harbors, storage) statewide.
- Analyzed major trends in the agribulk shipping industry, its relevant trades (imp+ exp), market demand, and freight rates.
- Analyzed products for food, animal feed, industrial and energy uses and identified value-creating opportunities.
Results
- Agribusiness commodity flow study.
- O-D matrix for freight flows.
Logistics & nearshoring
Evaluation of manufacturing and distribution programs in Mexico and the U.S.
Supply chain | logistics | planning | international trade | supply chain cost optimization | value chain | benefit-cost analysis
Why?
- Our client wants to start manufacturing and distribution in Mexico and the US instead of Asia after the trade war and COVID-19 disruptions.
What?
- The hypothesis tested is that the benefits from relocating closer to final markets outweigh cost differentials (labor, suppliers, tariffs).
- Our client aims to quantify and capture the economic value created from reshoring to the US and Mexico from Asia.
How?
- Analyzed current markets and demand levels, and documented existing supply chains, operations, and cost structures.
- Developed a value chain analysis for the conceptual nearshoring operations in the Americas.
- Planned supply chain cost structures and conducted benefit-cost analysis considering nearshoring opex and capital investments.
Results
- Strategic recommendations grounded in a benefit-cost analysis.
- Supply chain and value maps of conceptual nearshoring operations.
Value chain
Nearshoring vs offshoring
