Abstract

This study focal point is the productivity of the Nigerian shipping industry with attention placed on selected twenty-two shipping firms (based on market share) that operate within the country as well as the main seaport in Lagos: the Apapa Port Complex. Data on productive inputs and outputs were collected via the administration of questionnaires to the selected shipping companies over two periods within a single year. The periods were: the trough season and the peak season. The outputs consist of throughputs in metric tonnes carried by the companies on their various routes while the inputs were labour, materials, energy and capital served. Saari productivity model, which is based on input/output analysis, was used for data analysis to know each firm’s distribution index of input and output, productivity and productivity index, volume of index output, change of profitability, change of return, change of cost, capacity utilization and so on. It was noted that freight rates and ability to control cost of inputs were significant in the determination of firms’ productivity over a period of time. It was also discovered that the type and mode of operations of shipping firms as well as the use of target marketing matters a lot in its ability to be productive.

Key words: Productivity model, productivity index, profitability, capacity utilization.