The Port of Hamburg has reason to look to the future with optimism. At 32.8 million tons, total seaborne cargo throughput for the first three months of 2013 put the Port of Hamburg back on a growth course.
The trend in bulk cargo handling, especially, fuelled the increase in seaborne cargo handling: In the first quarter of the year a total of 10.1 million tons of bulk cargoes were handled in Hamburg, corresponding to an increase of 6.3 percent. At 2.2 million TEU (20-ft standard containers), the container handling that dominates in Hamburg as a universal port reached almost the same level as in the first quarter of 2012.
The German economy is primarily sustained by domestic consumption plus exports. An increase in orders received by manufacturing industry in the first three months of the year encourages expectations of an upturn for the economy in 2013 that should have a positive effect on cargo volume via the Port of Hamburg.
If the port is to be prepared for further growth, however, the deepening of the navigation channel on the Lower and Outer Elbe will be of the utmost importance.
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Press Release, May 15, 2013; Image: HHM/Lindner