Beyond Infrastructure Institutional Enablers as the Missing Link in Container Terminal Competitiveness- A Mixed Methods Study from Egypt

What makes a container terminal competitive in a fast-growing emerging economy? Conventional wisdom emphasises physical assets such as quay length, berth depth, crane capacity and yard area. This study challenges that view by examining the Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling Company (ACCHCO) in Egypt. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the research combines PLS-SEM on survey data from 366 stakeholders, output-oriented VRS DEA with 2020-2025 operational data, and Fuzzy AHP to elicit stakeholder priorities, together with semi-structured interviews of ten executives and academic experts. The findings reveal that Institutional and Strategic Enablers are the strongest determinant of terminal competitiveness (beta = 0.482, f-squared = 0.626) and significantly moderate the infrastructure-competitiveness relationship. The newer Dekheila Terminal consistently underperforms the older Alexandria Terminal, with unrealised throughput reaching 963,805 TEUs in 2022 despite superior physical assets. Stakeholder priorities assign the highest weights to Landside Logistics (0.34) and ISE (0.33), compared with Infrastructure (0.14). The structural model explains 87.7 percent of the variance in perceived competitiveness (R-squared = 0.877). The paper provides a validated strategic roadmap centred on a Unified Operational Control Center and demonstrates that governance reform can yield higher returns than infrastructure investment in emerging-economy ports.