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Dear politicians - happy campaigning. We look forward to working together!
Ahead of the Danish election campaign, we reflect on the possible impact.
Insights from a port director
Dear politicians, first of all, I would like to wish everyone a good election campaign. It is important to have strong local forces that will stand up for our local democracy. Thank you for that.
I would also like to share my thoughts on the political leadership we need for Kolding Municipality in the future. I hope that this will contribute to a better dialog and understanding between those of us who run businesses at the port and those of you who draw up the framework under which we must work - or dismantle.
To begin with, let me briefly introduce myself:
My name is Palle Mogensen, I'm 53 years old, director of H. Daugaard's port activities, living in Kolding, married to Rikke and together we have two adult children. Since 2007, I have been a member of the Executive Board and co-owner of the H. Daugaard Group.
H. Daugaard was established long before my time, back in 1915. For 106 years, H. Daugaard has been an active part of Kolding's development and business life. In 2021, we employ a total of 260 people in the group, and we expect a turnover of approximately DKK 360 million.
The transport industry thinks in chains
In the transportation industry, we're used to thinking in chains. When we transport goods - for example, building materials from a manufacturer to a construction site - there's a whole chain of actors we need to get to work together.
The shipper lets us know when we can pick up the goods. We need to coordinate that time and freight with our drivers' driving rest times and all the other customers who need goods picked up and delivered on the same day. Sometimes the goods have to pass our warehouse where they are repacked and distributed to several different construction sites. This requires us to have employees ready to repack and distribute to new trucks with new fresh drivers. From there it is delivered to the agreed construction sites, where it must never arrive too early or too late for the work on site. It's like a relay race where each player has to do their part to ensure the chain doesn't break down.
I hope you politicians will be inspired by this image.
When you manage Kolding, you become part of the chain of actors that make it interesting and attractive to run a business in Kolding municipality. Or part of the chain that makes investments in Kolding uncertain and risky.
Every link in the chain is crucial
I often meet people in Kolding who think that all the buildings we have at the port are built and owned by Kolding Port. But that's not the case.
Kolding Port owns the land, and Kolding Municipality is the owner of Kolding Port and thus the land on which the buildings are located. But it is the companies that have invested hundreds of millions of kroner in buildings, equipment and production lines based on lease contracts. Formally speaking, the city council has the power to make a new decision and terminate all of us tenants in order to let a new tenant build homes on the land instead.
But the city council does not have the power over the entire chain of actors and activities needed for Kolding Municipality to have a rich and sustainable business community, let alone an adequate influx of citizens to the municipality. Like us, you only have power over a single link in the chain. A link that is worthless without all the other links in the chain.
Together we can ensure a chain of growth, jobs, regional development and a sustainable society.
Individually, we can't do much.
As a director and co-owner of a company at Kolding Port, most people can probably imagine the strain it was when there was unrest about the port's future. For me, it not only felt as if someone had wanted to expropriate my house. On the one hand, expropriation would have meant financial compensation so that my wife and I could establish ourselves elsewhere, and on the other, I have a vain hope that my wife would actually move with me.
When you talk about closing or relocating companies like the one I represent, it doesn't just mean uncertainty for me as CEO and co-owner. It means uncertainty for all our employees. And although I can proudly say that H. Daugaard has very talented and loyal employees, I don't have the same vain hope that they would follow the workplace to a new location at any cost - let alone help finance the new establishment.
A closure of H. Daugaard's activities at the port could very well be a closure of H. Daugaard.
And then we're back to the chain.
Social responsibility
H. Daugaard currently has 150 full-time employees in Kolding. In addition, there are three flex workers, seven trainees and 11 afternoon workers / sweeper girls. 171 people in Kolding would lose their jobs if H. Daugaard closed.
Then the jobs will move somewhere else, you might think. And yes, many of them will move to other cities and other municipalities. But this will not be without cost to Kolding, the individual employees or our customers. It will be a link in a chain that disappears, and it must be replaced before the cogs can turn again.
Then there are the indirect effects. H. Daugaard's customers will get a poorer solution for their transportation - and that in turn will affect their production and sales opportunities. I know this because we are in a highly competitive industry, so if there was a better option, our customers would have chosen it. H. Daugaard's many local suppliers will lose a customer. And especially our flex workers, students and afternoon workers will be left in a very difficult situation, which you as representatives of the municipality and politicians will find it difficult to rectify within your part of the chain.
The green responsibility
Far from Kolding in Glasgow, COP 26 is currently taking place, but that doesn't mean that Kolding is irrelevant when it comes to the green transition. Kolding has adopted a sustainability strategy and is working ambitiously to implement a circular economy. An effort that requires courage, drive and persistence.
Journalists at COP 26 in Glasgow report on how world leaders are in touching agreement that action must be taken NOW. Climate change must be taken seriously NOW if we are to save our world as we know it.
But journalists can also tell you how fine words turn into empty platitudes when it comes to translating them into action.
Dear politicians, don't let this become the narrative of Kolding's sustainability strategy.
Ports in Denmark - and our port in Kolding - are among the most efficient and green ports in the world. And while it's easy to find statistics on pollution emissions from shipping, it's also necessary to look at the whole chain. What is the alternative to shipping at the moment? Planes, trains or trucks. As a representative of a transport company with many of its own trucks, I obviously have nothing bad to say about trucking, but the fact is that if we look at the amount of goods that can be transported by ship, it is often the most environmentally friendly mode of transport for long distances. What's more, it's also the only mode of transportation that actually has the necessary capacity. Neither the highways nor the railways across Europe have the spare capacity to take over from shipping.
Closing ports in Denmark or Europe is not a realistic or sustainable solution.
But can't we just close the port in Kolding, you might ask? But then we put the responsibility on others - just as many world leaders in Glasgow are now asking themselves and each other whether someone else can be responsible for the green transition.
I mean, no. We are all part of the chain and we must all be part of the solution. Let's be brave, persistent and decisive in the green transition in Kolding.
One of the cargo types that has caused a lot of debate at the Port of Kolding is the shipping of metal for recycling.
I have visited most of Europe's steel mills for more than 30 years - and I have to say that I am very proud that scrap metal is handled at Kolding Port. In Kolding, we must of course take responsibility for our metal waste, transport it from Kolding by ship so we don't burden the environment and Europe's road network, send it for recycling at steelworks in Southern Europe where it is remelted and returned as steel beams for construction and industry in Northern Europe.
It's a 100% recyclable product - a feature we miss in many other products. We must dare to see the beauty in it.
By this I do not mean that we as actors at the port will not optimize and refine our handling of metal waste in collaboration with Port Kolding. But I believe that the debate about removing all metal waste management from Kolding Port is a misguided debate. In Kolding, we should not talk about what we can avoid doing for the green transition, we should not shift responsibility to other municipalities and actors, and we should not shame products and industries that we ourselves enjoy and depend on for our growth and development.
Lifting together is part of being a link in the chain
H. Daugaard should not, in my opinion, be thanked for taking social responsibility, actively participating in Kolding's development and growth or for making an effort for the green transition. To me, it's a natural part of being a link in the chain that makes up our city, municipality and society.
We must all take responsibility for the entire chain - across citizens, businesses, municipality and political leadership. Together, we can create solutions to all the challenges we face as a city, municipality and society. Individually, we can't do much.
Therefore, I hope that you, as representatives in a new city council, will cherish the chain, decency and good dialog. Happy campaigning - we look forward to working with you all.
