The Port of Hamburg has revealed that sea cargo handling has increased once more with a total of 28.6m tonnes handled through the first quarter (Q1) of the year, an increase of 4.6 per cent compared with the same period of 2009.
According to Port of Hamburg Marketing, imported cargo handling figures hit 16.7m tonnes, up 6 per cent, while exports via Hamburg climbed 2.7 per cent to 11.9m tonnes.
General cargo handling returned to growth in the quarter, up 1.1 per cent to 18.6m tonnes, and the bulk cargo segment grew 11.9 per cent to 9.9m tonnes.
Container handling remained below the level seen in the first three months of 2009, down 4 per cent to 1.8m TEU (20ft equivalent units), although figures for the handling of loaded containers showed an upward trend with 1.6 per cent growth.
Aiding the overall increase in cargo handling figures were various liner services to China and Asia, many of which were suspended at the height of the global economic downturn but have now gradually come back online.
'The cargo handling figures for the first quarter of 2010 showing an increase of 4.6 per cent represent a positive signal for Hamburg's port industry,' said Claudia Roller, CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing. 'We can see that the universal Port of Hamburg benefited particularly from the encouraging trend in the handling of grabbable cargo during the first quarter of 2010.'
