Hamburg Port boosts container volume

The Port of Hamburg is expected to see box turnover growth of over 11% in 2010, according to Claudia Roller, chief executive of the port of Hamburg central marketing agency Hamburg Hafen Marketing.
This outlook is a result of positive figures recorded for the first three quarters of the year.

Container throughput through the port reached 5.9 million TEU for the period.
The port has also seen an overall turnover growth of 8% in comparison to 2009 to 89.4 million tonnes.

Following a weak first quarter, the German seaport has benefited from new services being introduced, as well as the fact that lines have restarted a number of services between Hamburg and the Far East.

The number of boxes transported between Hamburg and China - the port's largest trading partner - rose 18% in comparison to last year.

This trend was echoed in volumes bound for Russia, which increased by 25.5% during the first three quarters of 2010, a notable rise in the comparative growth of 15.7% recorded during the first half of 2010.

September was the port single strongest month in the container segment, where turnover saw growth of 25.1% reaching 744,000 TEUs.

Bulk handling volumes rose by 6.9% to 29.2 million tonnes, and has been put down to a rapid increase of iron ore imports, which increased by a phenomenal 91.2%.