Asian cargo boosts Hamburg volume
A jump in Asia-related container volume in the first quarter kept the port of Hamburg on track to be one of Europe's busiest container terminals this year.
The port, on the banks of the Elbe River, saw a 16 per cent year-on-year rise in Asian box volume move across its 10 dedicated berths, pushing the port to a record 1.22 million teu (20 ft equivalent units) in the first quarter.
'Hamburg port needs fear no competition,' Germany's Labour and Economic Council Senator Gunnar Uldall said. 'The strategic advantages of our port as the gateway for the Baltic and Eastern Europe, as well as our role as the most important base in Europe for the growth market China are . . . recognised by the [shipping lines].'
Hamburg profited in the first quarter from service restructuring by major shipping lines. Taiwan's Evergreen Marine last month launched a new round-the-world service, which opted for Hamburg as one of its European ports of call and utilises 12 5,500-teu capacity vessels.
The Taiwan giant also last month shifted its CEM service, which serves the China-Europe market, from Bremerhaven to the Elbe River port.
The forecast also looks good in the second quarter as Japan's K Line and Taiwan's Yang Ming opted this month to call on their AES-1 service, the true potential of which would not have been reflected in first-quarter throughput. For K Line, it was the first call at Hamburg since 1998.
The port's new CTA Container Terminal Altenwerder is also expected to come on line in the next few months and the local government has applied to dredge the Elbe. Low water depths in the lead-up to the terminal facilities have long been a concern of shipping lines using the latest container vessels, which require up to 14 metres of water fully laden.
The volume of boxes from north Asia grew 15.8 per cent year on year at the port, while Southeast Asian throughput jumped 21.4 per cent at Hamburg. It was also buoyed by a 42 per cent year-on-year increase in Eastern Europe trade, and a 13.5 per cent rise in Scandinavian trade.
Comparatively, the port of Rotterdam estimates its throughput will drop two per cent for the first quarter, while Antwerp has reported 11 per cent year-on-year growth.
