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To keep goods on the move, Moffatt & Nichol has leveraged its global commercial and engineering capabilities to provide vertically integrated services, leading to the successful completion of large-scale design projects for intermodal cargo networks and regional transportation corridors. Unique in the market, our group comprises a mix of economists, logistics, financial, management, engineering, modeling and operational specialists with expertise in the innovative organization, financing and design of advanced cargo delivery systems.
We have provided strategic and technical expertise, grant narrative writing, benefit-cost analysis, and grant submittal coordination services for clients seeking funding through grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Economic Development Administration, and Federal Emergency Management Agency port security grant programs, as well as several state grant programs. Our grant services have helped secure numerous grants for our port, ferry, freight, intermodal, and transportation infrastructure clients.
With Moffatt & Nichol’s extensive experience in the industry, our commercial group also has the ability to gauge stakeholder interest and identify potential partners and funding sources. A feasibility study can include analysis of potential commodities and markets, volume forecasts, identification of competitor facilities and developments, hinterland competitiveness and intermodal access, as well as technical input such as conceptual layouts and construction cost estimates and timelines. Outputs can also include operational models with multiple market and development scenarios.
We have worked with many clients to develop strategic initiatives in support of redeveloping obsolete assets and operations to meet current market needs, or to establish a completely new business line. Core market analysis defines the business opportunity, and preliminary design estimates establish the projected capital redevelopment costs. Our approach to alternative use studies has allowed clients to fully weigh the risk of entering new markets and to identify those which offer the greatest opportunity for success.
By performing commercial, financial, operational and technical reviews in-house, we are able to provide both sell-side and buy-side transaction support for a wide range of maritime assets, including container, dry bulk, roll-on roll-off, cruise, and multipurpose terminals, as well as recreational marinas and other waterfront developments. Areas of support include market forecasts and competitive analysis, operational capacity and capabilities, condition surveys, investment planning and financial modeling including revenue, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization or EBITDA, CAPEX items, and more.
Regardless of project sponsorship, we can be relied upon to maintain our independence and provide potential lenders with a robust analysis that will support their evaluation and decision making. We have carried out numerous studies of this type, for multilateral lenders, development banks, global banks, infrastructure funds, and other financial institutions for a range of projects, including greenfield developments, expansion or redevelopment projects or a refinancing of existing debt.
Moffatt & Nichol is a leading provider of comprehensive market commercial and economic analysis. From forecasting container flows to evaluating regional capacity supply and demand dynamics, to carrier alliance terminal competitive positioning and benefit cost analysis forecasts to support grant applications, we are able to offer a full suite of potential market studies and competitive analysis services to our clients for markets worldwide.
A benefit cost analysis (BCA) is a systematic process for identifying, quantifying, and comparing the expected benefits and costs of a potential infrastructure project to ensure that its economic benefits to users—and to the nation as a whole—outweigh the resources required for its implementation. Specifically, the BCA provides the client with estimates of the anticipated benefits expected to accrue from a project over a specified period and compares them to the anticipated project cost.
A highly skilled team of economists, port specialists, market experts and analysts evaluate the macro-economic environment and trends driving cargo performance and identify the key market drivers also underpinning future cargo streams. Through extensive research and the team’s market understanding, we adopt a focused bottom-up approach to short-term cargo projections which is complemented by robust analysis and detailed assumptions. This visibility in the assumptions highlights the key parameters for sensitivity analysis and stress-testing, which we perform within a structured modeling environment.
One of the longest standing services the company offers is master planning support. We understand that in order to deliver a truly comprehensive master plan, the effort must first and foremost keep a strategic view on the future. Market analysis, capital improvement programs, and environmental and social initiatives are all elements that must be identified, prioritized and synthesized into a single near-, mid- and long-term vision of what the port is and will become.
