[ Hamburg, Powerhouse in Logistics ]

Hamburg is more than just the seaway to the European market. It is the
hub port of Germany and Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe. Five m
ajor European high-ways converge in Hamburg and the city’s modern int
ernational airport connects all points of the globe.
The efficient German rail system links Hamburg to all major German and
European cities. Just south of Hamburg is Maschen, Europe’s biggest
shunting yard, where the entire procedure is run by computer, and abou
t 10,000 freight cars are arranged daily in some 200 trains.
This is an important link in Hamburg’s fast railway connections.
There is also a highly developed network of inland waterways that link
the Elbe River port with Berlin-Germany’s foremost industrial city-
the Ruhr area, the Rhine, the Czech Republic and Poland. Regular feede
r services link Hamburg with Great Britain and the growing Scandinavia
n and Eastern European markets facing the Baltic Sea.
The port is an important pillar of the commercial and industrial secto
r of the city. during the past 20 years-fold. Much of this development
was in the form of trade with the Far East which accounted for about
43 per cent of containers handled in the port.
The post- sencond World War focus by the U.S. military away from the H
amburg area was based solely on its 10-mile distance from the East Ger
man border and provided other ports with a major market share of the t
hen U. S.-flag dominated North Atlantic trade. While Hamburg had ships
serving the North Atlantic routes call at the port in previous years,
the fall of the Iron Curtain and the re-opening of Hamburg’s natural
hinterland in Central and Eastern Europe has helped boost North Ameri
ca trade.
Container traffic to and from North America increaded in the first six
months of this year with Hamburg gaining market shares at the expense
of other German ports. In trade with Canada Hamburg’s leading positi
on was further strengthened while the tonnage serving the U.S. Coast i
mproved considerably thanks to the contribution made by several East A
sian shipping lines. Hamburg’s North American container turnover incr
eased by a total of 9.9per cent in the first half of 1996 while trade
with Canada was up 19.4 percent.
Commercial operators at the port provide a broad range of logistical s
ervices which allow customers to concentrate on marketing and sales. T
he spectrum of available services range from container stuffing and st
ripping, seaworthy packing, storage, samlping, processing, price label
ing, sorting, order picking, and quality controls, to transport arrang
ement, provision of inventory control, and dealing with invoicing and
Customs formalities.
Port of Hamburg operators have also formed joint ventures to provide d
irect block-train services from the port to Poland, Hungary, the Czech
Rupublic and Austria with possbilities for arranging further transpor
t to Belorussia, the Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and onward. COSCO, Eve
rgreen, Hanjin Shipping, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Sharp, Panasonic and
Juki are a few of the many reputable international companies which ha
ve chosen Hamburg as a management and operations location. The most im
portant logistics organizations for finished products at the port are
Buss Logistics Terminal(BLT), HHLA(also known as the Hambur Port & War
ehouse Corp.)and Oceangate. Hamburger Hafen-und Lagerhaus-AG(HHLA), th
e Port of Hamburg’s largest handling and warehousing enterprise, whic
h has terminals spread across the entire 16 square kilometers of the d
uty-free port area. It offers 180,000 square meters of covered and sec
ure storage space.
The company’s main business focus is the administration of all transa
ctions associated with seaport transport business. BLT specializes in
hazardous and sensitive goods such as chemicals and pharmaceuticals. O
ceangate Distribution GmbH is a subsidiary of EUROKAI KGaA and Ocean C
ory Trading Ltd, UK. It offers 30,000 square meters of high-bay wareho
using.
Hamburg offers more storage capacity than any other North European car
go-handling center with more than two million square meters of covered
storage space and more than three million square meters of firm open-
air sites for general cargo. In addition, 350,000 square meters of sto
rage space for bulk cargo, more than one million tonnes of silo capaci
ty for suction cargo and more than six million cubic meters of tank-fa
rm capacity are also available.
It is important for customers to konw there is not only sufficient, bu
t also compatible storage capacity to meet particular needs. There are
special purpose warehouses for fruits, vegetables, chilled and frozen
foods, industrial goods, liquid cargo, including latex, forestry prod
ucts, precious metals, coffee, tea, spices, dried fruits and carpets a
mong other products.
Tustoms clearance is one of the logistical services Hamburg can offer.
In the duty-free zone, the entire flow of seaborne goods is handled w
ith minimum Customs formalities. Customs fees are only payanble when t
he goods are imported into Germany, and therefore the EU-and then only
for the part of the consignment actually passing the border of the fr
ee port.
This is a great advantage in the case of buffer or distribution storag
e, since the free port saves customers money and enables them to react
quickly in response to unexpected surges in demand for specific goods
. There is also bonded warehousing outside the duty-free area operated
by port enterprises such Oceangate.
Fuji, Sharp, Honda, NEC, Aiwa, JVC,Reebok, Yamaha, Panasonic and the O
tto Mail Order Group are just a few of the companies for which port op
erators facilitate warehousing and distribution.
The development of Eastern Europe provides an additional market with m
ore than 235 million people accessible via Hamburg. This market includ
es the new German states, the Czen and Slovak Republics, Hungary, Pola
nd, the Baltic States and the CIS. Prague is approximately 670 kms, Bu
dapest 1,180 kms, Warsaw 880 kms, Tallin 1,590 kms, Kiev 1,380 kms, Mo
scow 2,000 kms by road or rail.
With these newly-gained markets, Hamburg has become the most favorably
situated North Sea port for more than 400million European. Hamburg is
the number two port in Europe, and number one for access to Far East
markets. In fact, only one European port handles more cargo than Hambu
rg; however, Hamburg’s growth rate is Number One in Europe.
The Gerd Buss group offers warehousing and distribution activities und
er the name of BUSS and WMC. Gerd Buss Larger-und Speditions-Gesellsch
aft kuhwerder mbH operates a modern multipurpose terminal. With heavy
duty cranes up to 80 tons, modern forklift trucks, tugmasters, trailer
s, and well experienced personnel the terminal is well prepared to han
dle all types of ships and cargoes. Particularly the loading of projec
t cargoes is a speciality of Kuhwerder.
With two modern 45-ton cranes, the terminal discharges about one milli
on tons of bulk cargoes from bulkers into barges and coasters. The ter
minal has some 65,000 square meters for storage of all types of mercha
ndise and a cold store of 10,000 squaremeter capacity. Also, passenger
liners are dispatched at Kuhwerder.