Hamburg container terminals losing ground to port rivals

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The container terminals on Hamburg’s River Elbe lost more ground to their Rotterdam and Antwerp rivals in the first nine months of the year.

Throughput at Hamburg declined 2.4%, compared with the same period of the previous year, to 6.6m teu. This contrasts with the solid growth seen at its North European hub competitors, Rotterdam and Antwerp, of 5.7% and 6.8% respectively.

Hobbled by draught restrictions, Hamburg is handling a smaller share of transhipment cargo, in what it described as “a tough competitive field”. The ...