Gothenburg Bucks Global Downturn, Boosts Container Traffic 4 Percent

The port of Gothenburg said container shipments grew an “unexpected” 4 percent in the third quarter from a year ago as Scandinavia’s biggest cargo hub shrugged off the impact of a faltering global economy.

Traffic rose to 226,000 20-foot-equivalent units from 217,000 TEUs in the year-earlier quarter, for a nine-month total of 684,000 TEUs, an increase of 2 percent on the same period in 2011.

“It was somewhat unexpected that container trade held its own as well as it did during the third quarter bearing in mind the current state of the world economy,” said Magnus Karestedt, the port’s chief executive.

Gothenburg secured a second direct deep sea link to Asia in April when the G6 alliance began weekly calls at Sweden’s largest port.

Total throughput rose 9 percent in the third quarter to 10.5 million metric tons from 9.6 million tons, but was up just 1 percent in the first nine months at 31.2 million tons.

Roll-on, roll-off traffic dipped 4 percent in the third quarter to 127,000 units, and the slump in car shipments that began in 2011 continued, with traffic collapsing by 34 percent to 30,000 units.

Oil throughput fell 30 percent to 6.1 million tons.

- The Journal of Commerce.