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Significant Growth in Hamburg Box Traffic
In the first quarter, Europe's second largest container hub handled 2.2 million 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs), during the same period in 2011 they handled 2.1 million TEUs. The increase in volume for Hamburg box traffic outpaces those of its rivals in Rotterdam and Antwerp at a surprising 5.2 percent. Rotterdam, Europe's leading box port, saw a 4 percent shrink in container traffic during the first quarter, down to 2.78 million TEUs. Meanwhile, Antwerp grew slightly by just 0.7 percent to 2.19 million TEUs. By comparison, "Hamburg is markedly ahead of the 2.4 percent average growth for the four major ports in the North Range," said Port of Hamburg Marketing Chief Executive Claudia Roller.
 | | Containerterminal im Hamburger Hafen by Dan Kollmann |
Although Asian volumes dropped to 1.2 million TEUs, or 5 percent, traffic in the Baltic Sea region, including Russia, jumped 19.6 percent to 531,000 TEUs, and the Americas trade was up 33.3 percent at 279,000 TEUs. These numbers could account for some of the shift contributing to the growth of the Hamburg box traffic.
With more steamship lines using Hamburg as a result of increasing traffic, it can cause issues with customs clearance at destination, especially where the preferred port for destination agents is Bremerhaven. As more steamship lines continue their vessel share agreements, fewer port choices will become available due to the fact that a greater number of lines riding on the same ship and become subject to the ports which that ship calls. Hamburg is a deep-water port and more attractive to the newer ultra large vessels, which are more cost efficient to operate by using less fuel per TEU. Confirmation with destination agents about which port is being used will help to minimize issues with customs clearance.
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