Global economy hits Bremen and Bremerhaven figures

The split between the twin ports saw Bremerhaven accounting for 16.1m tonnes (-13.8%) and Bremen 2.8m tonnes (-7.8%).  In containers, mainly concentrated in Bremerhaven, the figures showed a 12.2% decrease from 1.6m teu for the period January to March 2012 to 1.4m teu for the same period this year.

“Our twin ports managed to withstand the negative impact of the poor economic trends in many parts of the world longer than their competitors, but now the quays in Bremen and Bremerhaven are also feeling the effects,” commented Senator Martin Günthner.

He was not prepared to make a forecast for 2013 as a whole, but pointed out that the throughput figures had already started to pick up again after a particularly weak start in January.  This was shown in the figures for container volumes with an upwards trend in February and March.   In January just 448,000 teu were handled, while throughput rose to 466,000 teu in February and 495,000 teu in March.