Container Volumes Down in Port of Gothenburg

Swedish Port of Gothenburg, the largest port in Scandinavia, has handled a total of 820,000 TEUs during 2015, which represent a two per cent fall on 2014, due to a general decline in Swedish container volumes.

Magnus Kårestedt, Port of Gothenburg chief executive, said that the container terminal implemented a highly intensive investment programme during the year, which affected the level of service to shipping and transport companies.

“Nevertheless, I’m convinced that the improvements that have been made will bear fruit in the years to come. A positive sign is that traffic at the Port of Gothenburg rose at the end of 2015 with new calls and larger ships bound for Asia. I’m confident that 2016 will be a good year,” Kårestedt said.

Handling of cars in 2015 rose by 29 per cent compared to the previous year. The rise can be attributed in part to Volvo, which posted record sales.

Gothenburg also has the largest general energy port in Scandinavia, which is where half of Sweden’s crude oil imports enter the country. A total of 21.1 million tonnes of oil were handled during 2015, up 10 per cent on 2014.

In total, 38.2 million of freight was handled in the port in 2015, representing an increase of more than one million tonnes from the 2014 volumes of 37.1 million.

Freight figures for 2015 show an overall year-on-year increase of three per cent.

Some 90 per cent of Swedish foreign trade is transported by sea and in the case of trade with countries outside Europe most of the freight is containerised.

Around 30 per cent of Sweden’s foreign trade passes through the Port of Gothenburg.