THE Port of Hamburg maintained its container traffic volumes in the first three months of the year at 2.2 million TEU on par with same period in 2012
Hamburg first quarter box volumes fall 1.4pc to 1.2 million TEU THE Port of Hamburg maintained its container traffic volumes in the first three months of the year at 2.2 million TEU on par with same period in 2012, over half were attributed to Asian trade at 1.2 million TEU.
Containerised general cargo dropped by 1.4 per cent at 22.3 million tonnes year on year with conventional general cargo the most significant decline at 17.5 per cent to 435,000 tonnes.
Overall tonnage reached 32.8 million tonnes of which 10.1 million tonnes were bulk cargoes, an increase of 6.3 per cent year on year. General cargo reached 22.7 million tonnes, a 1.7 per cent decrease year on year.
Import tonnage was led by ore and coal while fertiliser made up most the rest of the export cargo. Oil products increased 30.4 per cent to 1.3 million tons year on year due to Europe's long winter this year.
It relied heavily on its trade with the Baltic region which make up a majority of feeders on transshipment services at 541,000 TEU, up two per cent year on year. Its main trading partner Russia totalled 161,000 TEU during the three-month period.
The port claims to have the densest network of feeder connections into the Baltic region in Northern Europe. Its feeders alone between Hamburg and the Baltic region increased two per cent during the first quarter compared to same period 2012.
"In combination with this positive trend in feeder traffic, during the rest of the year we anticipate slight growth for container liner services as well," said Port of Hamburg marketing CEO Claudia Roller, with expectations of an upturn in economy following a rise in manufacturing orders that will boost cargo volumes.
The deepening of the navigation channel on the Lower and Outer Elbe is key to sustain further growth in the remaining year.
