Hamburg, home to Germany’s largest container port, is defying the debt crisis that is hampering growth elsewhere in the euro region as trade with eastern Europe and Asia bolsters its resilience, mb.com reports.
Container volumes at the Port of Hamburg jumped 17 percent in the first half of this year to 4.3 million standard containers, or TEU, as traffic to and from Russia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania soared 51 percent and trade with Asia climbed 13 percent, authorities said in a report yesterday.
Cargo volumes are growing in the German port that employs 165,000 people even as the wider German economy almost stalled in the second quarter, data from the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden showed today. Hamburg, Germany’s richest city and its second-largest after Berlin, is rebounding from the shipping slump of 2009 to sport the strongest economy of any German city and is set to expand another 19 percent by 2017, Capital magazine said in a report yesterday, citing researcher Feri.
“We are an indicator – we can see a stable business and a stable industry in Germany right now,” Hamburg Port Authority Chief Executive Officer Jens Meier said in an interview. “There will be some ups and downs but nothing as huge as what we saw in 2009.”
Germany has been powering euro-area growth as the debt crisis curbs spending across the region. Gross domestic product, adjusted for seasonal effects, rose 0.1 percent from the first quarter, when it jumped a revised 1.3 percent, the Federal Statistics Office said. Economists had forecast growth of 0.5 percent, according to the median of 33 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.
The worse-than-expected GDP data add to signs the region is flirting with a renewed economic slump.
Hamburg handles about 25 percent of Germany’s sea-bound exports. The passage of goods to and from Asia, which accounts for almost 60 percent of Hamburg’s container cargo volumes, is boosting the port’s immunity to the German slowdown.
Container trade with northeast Asia jumped 14 percent in the first half of this year, while traffic with southeast Asia rose 6.6 percent. Container trade with the Baltic Sea countries advanced 31 percent in the period.
The port, which gained market share from northern European Augustharbors such as Antwerp and Zeebruegge in the first half, expects to increase cargo volumes by 10 percent this year, Meier said.
The Port of Hamburg forecasts total cargo volumes to grow between 8 and 10 percent this year to 131 million tons, while container volumes are likely to expand by more than 10 percent to about 9 million standard containers, it said yesterday.
The port doesn’t rule out that the debt crisis in Europe and the debt problems in the US may weigh on volumes, as the development in the harbour is dependent on a continued positive global business climate, it said.
The Hamburg Chamber of Commerce’s business climate index stood at 123.3 in the second quarter, compared with 125.7 in the first quarter, according to a report on July 13. The average for the last three decades is 102.7, it said.
Some 40 percent of companies in the city regarded the current business situation as “good” in the second quarter, with only 9 percent describing it as “bad,” the Chamber said at the time. About 22 percent of the companies plan to hire more people, it said.
Container volumes at the Port of Hamburg jumped 17 percent in the first half of this year to 4.3 million standard containers, or TEU, as traffic to and from Russia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania soared 51 percent and trade with Asia climbed 13 percent, authorities said in a report yesterday.
Cargo volumes are growing in the German port that employs 165,000 people even as the wider German economy almost stalled in the second quarter, data from the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden showed today. Hamburg, Germany’s richest city and its second-largest after Berlin, is rebounding from the shipping slump of 2009 to sport the strongest economy of any German city and is set to expand another 19 percent by 2017, Capital magazine said in a report yesterday, citing researcher Feri.
“We are an indicator – we can see a stable business and a stable industry in Germany right now,” Hamburg Port Authority Chief Executive Officer Jens Meier said in an interview. “There will be some ups and downs but nothing as huge as what we saw in 2009.”
Germany has been powering euro-area growth as the debt crisis curbs spending across the region. Gross domestic product, adjusted for seasonal effects, rose 0.1 percent from the first quarter, when it jumped a revised 1.3 percent, the Federal Statistics Office said. Economists had forecast growth of 0.5 percent, according to the median of 33 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.
The worse-than-expected GDP data add to signs the region is flirting with a renewed economic slump.
Hamburg handles about 25 percent of Germany’s sea-bound exports. The passage of goods to and from Asia, which accounts for almost 60 percent of Hamburg’s container cargo volumes, is boosting the port’s immunity to the German slowdown.
Container trade with northeast Asia jumped 14 percent in the first half of this year, while traffic with southeast Asia rose 6.6 percent. Container trade with the Baltic Sea countries advanced 31 percent in the period.
The port, which gained market share from northern European Augustharbors such as Antwerp and Zeebruegge in the first half, expects to increase cargo volumes by 10 percent this year, Meier said.
The Port of Hamburg forecasts total cargo volumes to grow between 8 and 10 percent this year to 131 million tons, while container volumes are likely to expand by more than 10 percent to about 9 million standard containers, it said yesterday.
The port doesn’t rule out that the debt crisis in Europe and the debt problems in the US may weigh on volumes, as the development in the harbour is dependent on a continued positive global business climate, it said.
The Hamburg Chamber of Commerce’s business climate index stood at 123.3 in the second quarter, compared with 125.7 in the first quarter, according to a report on July 13. The average for the last three decades is 102.7, it said.
Some 40 percent of companies in the city regarded the current business situation as “good” in the second quarter, with only 9 percent describing it as “bad,” the Chamber said at the time. About 22 percent of the companies plan to hire more people, it said.