Hamburg overtakes Antwerp

Number of standard containers rises to 6.8 million in nine months through to September

The Port of Hamburg has reported that it increased container volumes by 15 percent in the first nine months of the year on trade with Asia and eastern Europe, helping it overtake Antwerp as Europe’s second-largest container port.

The Port said the number of standard containers rose to 6.8 million in the nine months through to September while total trade volumes rose 11 percent to 99 million tons.

In Antwerp, container volumes increased 3.1 percent to 6.5 million TEU in the same period, while Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, had an almost 8 percent rise to 9 million TEU, according to those two ports.

Hamburg fell behind Antwerp in 2009 after the global economic crisis led to a decline in volumes. An increase in trade with eastern Europe and Asia is now benefiting Germany’s biggest port as Europe’s sovereign debt crisis hampers growth in the region’s largest economies.

“We don’t expect to see a decline in the seaborne trade with the important markets of China, Asia, America and the countries in the Baltic Sea region” in 2012, Port of Hamburg Marketing Chief Executive Officer Claudia Roller said today.

Source: IFW


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