Antwerp port raises market share to occupy No 2 spot in Europe
Time：2017-01-22
Browse：119
Despite sluggish growth on the Asia-North Europe trade lane, Antwerp`s container volumes rose by four per cent in the first nine months of 2016, to 7.6 million TEU, paving the way for a second straight year of record growth, with expectations the port will breach the 10 million-TEU mark. This follows 7.5 per cent growth in 2015 at 9.6 million TEU.
Rotterdam`s traffic slipped 0.4 per cent in the first three quarters to 9.3 million TEU largely due to declines in the first five months. Since then, the volume has picked up, and it was expected to accelerate in the final quarter of 2016 as its two new automated terminals iron out their teething problems, reported IHS Media.
Underscoring the Dutch port`s position as the top Asia-Europe hub was the acquisition by China`s Cosco group of a 35 per cent stake in the Euromax terminal from Hong Kong`s Hutchison Port Holdings.
Hamburg port has finally pulled out of an extended slump that reduced its container traffic by 9.3 per cent in 2015. Volume was essentially flat through much of 2016 at 6.7 million TEU in the first three quarters, on the back of the recovery in Asia trade volumes, which were up just one per cent year on year.
Equally significant, the key Russia feeder trade has also rebounded, with traffic rising 4.4 per cent to 337,000 TEU despite ongoing Western sanctions against the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, state-of-the-art terminals planned in the double-digit growth era before the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, are boosting traffic steadily, but not fast enough to throw off their "white elephant" image.
The four-year-old Jade Weser terminal in Wilhelmshaven, Germany`s only deepwater port, recorded strong growth of 26 per cent to 412,000 TEU in the first nine months of 2016, but remains far short of its 2.7 million-TEU annual capacity.
One of the biggest success stories in the Mediterranean was the revival of Gioia Tauro, Italy`s leading transshipment hub, which saw volumes rise 8.4 per cent in the first nine months, to two million TEU.