In Germany, the Port of Hamburg enjoyed continuing growth through the first three months of 2012 with improved year-on-year volumes in overall throughput and container handling.
For the quarter, the port saw a total throughput of 32.6m tonnes, which represented growth of 3.8 per cent. Throughput in the container handling section increased by 5.2 per cent to 2.2m TEUs.
'We are delighted that with a 5.2 per cent rise in container throughput in the first quarter, the Port of Hamburg is markedly ahead of the 2.4 per cent average growth for the four major ports in the North Range,' noted Claudia Roller, chief executive officer of Port of Hamburg Marketing. 'The excellent result in this segment is what triggered the Port of Hamburg’s overall growth in the first quarter of 2012. For the remainder of the year we are reckoning on a further increase in total throughput.'
Port of Hamburg Marketing compared its results with the main points further west, saying that Hamburg had gained market share in the quarter compared with the same period of 2011. Rotterdam's throughput had fallen 3.9 per cent, the authority noted, while Antwerp's increase was 'comparatively minimal' at 0.7 per cent.
'We are headed in the right direction and have gained notable market shares. This is indicative for competitiveness of the Port of Hamburg', said Jens Meier, HPA managing director. 'Considering container handling figures and the market shares in the northern European Ports range the Port of Hamburg even surpasses forecasts of the 2010 ISL potential analysis.'
