THE Port of Hamburg has become Russia's second largest trading partner following its WTO accession in relation to container traffic.
Hamburg's Russian boxes up 13pc in 2012, becomes 2nd trading partner
THE Port of Hamburg has become Russia's second largest trading partner following its WTO accession in relation to container traffic, owing to a sharp upsurge in the volume of sea freight handled.
The Port of Hamburg and Russian ports recorded total bilateral trade of 675,000 TEU in 2012, up 13.3 per cent compared to the previous year.
The growing trade between the two nations has also been credited to the simplifications in commercial law and the dismantling of trade barriers as a result of Russia's WTO entry.
"We're particularly pleased that Hamburg managed to raise its share of container traffic in St Petersburg to 25.3 per cent last year. That's 1.6 percentage points more than in 2011, which indicates enlarged market share within the North Range ports for this route," says Axel Mattern, executive board member of Port of Hamburg Marketing.
Just under 95 per cent of the total direct traffic between Russia and Hamburg are handled via the seaport of St Petersburg, Russia's so-called "window to Europe". This Russian Baltic Sea port itself handled 2.53 million TEU in 2012, up 6.7 per cent year-on-year. In addition, ships sailing from Hamburg, reported the Massachusetts-based American Journal of Transportation, visited the Russian Baltic Sea ports of Kaliningrad and Ust-Luga, and Archangelsk und Murmansk on the Arctic Ocean.
The main goods exported from Russia in seaborne container traffic via Hamburg include hard coal, Diesel oil, crude oil, paper, copper and chemical substances. Imports to Russia predominantly comprise meat, motor vehicles, fruit preserves, electrical appliances and paper. Russia is also one of the key trading partners of the Hanseatic port in conventional general cargo handling, including iron, steel and other metals.
In order to extend and reinforce contacts with Russian and international transport sectors, the Port of Hamburg will be present with a stand at the TransRussia trade fair in Moscow from April 23-26.
Germany's biggest port provides 150 weekly feeder sailings to the Baltic Sea region and numerous overseas liner services connecting Hamburg with almost every port in the world.
