Gothenburg claims spot as number one vehicle handling port in Scandinavia

An upsurge in the sale of new cars in Sweden is reflected in import figures for automobiles, according to the Port of Gothenburg.    A total of 67,682 cars passed through the Port of Gothenburg during the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 12 percent over the first quarter of 2016, according to figures released Sept. 14 by the Swedish government agency Transport Analysis and the industry and employers’ organization Ports of Sweden.
   Port of Gothenburg data shows that it has become the number one vehicle handling port in Scandinavia, thanks largely to a 30 percent upturn in imports.
   Imports, the port said, account for 40 percent of the cars handled at the port. The number of cars imported and exported through the Port of Gothenburg has grown steadily since 2012 and the trend appears to be holding.
   “The upsurge in the sale of new cars in Sweden has continued and this is reflected very clearly in our import figures,” Gothenburg Port Authority Vice President of Container, Ro-Ro and Rail Claes Sundmark explained. “Our terminal operators, Gothenburg RoRo Terminal and Logent Ports and Terminals, are doing a first-rate job of sourcing new volumes and the future for imports is looking bright.”
   The vehicle imports are mainly from Renault and Nissan, but also include Chevrolet, Ford and Opel. On the export side, Volvo accounts for the majority of the volumes, port statistics show.
   During the year’s first quarter, the port shipped 3 percent more new cars, thanks to growth in sales of Volvo’s Gothenburg-produced models from what was already a record-breaking level.
   Overall, the port handled a total of 67,682 new cars during Q1 2017, up from 60,491 units during the same period last year, according to data. Of the total amount, 42,688 were exports, up from 41,305 in the same period last year, and 24,994 were imports, up from 19,186.