The German Port of Hamburg handled 71 million tons of cargo in the first half of 2008 and five million TEU, with box traffic up 3.8 per cent compared to the same period a year ago.
"Before the backdrop of the weakening of growth in container traffic with China, Hamburg's main trading partner, growth of 3.8 per cent in container handling represents very good results for the half," said Hafen Hamburg Marketing (HMM) board member Claudia Roller.
In the first six months of the year, imported containers grew by 3.4 per cent year on year to 2.6 million TEU, while containers for export amounted to 2.4 million TEU, up 4.2 per cent. Hamburg container traffic with China achieved growth of 4.8 per cent, handling 1.6 million TEU.
The overall handling of general and bulk cargo grew by 2.1 per cent over the first half of 2007. Within this total, bulk cargo amounted to 19.8 million tons, a decline of 3.7 per cent year on year while general cargo volumes grew 4.6 per cent to 51.2 million tons.
A statement from the Hamburg port authority said the operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA) will invest the entire proceeds from its initial public offering, amounting to EUR1 billion (US$1.55 billion), in dredging the Elbe and terminal expansion.
Hamburg will also decide whether to press for the building of a new highway crossing the port area, which will require federal funding.
During the first half of the year, the Port of Hamburg handled 159,000 TEU of Red Sea and Gulf region containers. The container trade with India and Pakistan reached 138,000 TEU. Trade with the east coast of South America increased by 6.8 per cent to 169,000 TEU while trade with the east coast of North America grew by 7.9 per cent to 175,000 TEU.
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