Copenhagen Malm÷ Port sees strong cargo volume, profit gains in 2007
Copenhagen Malm' Port (CMP) handled 18.3 million tons of cargo in 2007, up 10 percent compared to 16.6 million tons in 2006.
The Danish/Swedish port complex said the extra cargo helped boost its pre-tax profit by 57 percent to SEK145 million ($23 million) and net sales 13 percent to SEK733 million ($114 million).
CMP said its record financial performance was driven in particular by increased demand for consumer goods from the Far East as well as major construction activity, especially work on the City Tunnel in Malm', creating higher demand for traditional building materials such as sand, stone and gravel.
CMP said its dry bulk volume last year increased 16 percent to 7.2 million tons, while liquid bulk gained 9 percent to 3.4 million tons. The number of cars handled by CMP in 2007 rose 18 percent to 518,000. The port’s container volume increased 10 percent to 192,000 TEUs with roll-on/roll-off traffic up 4 percent to 305,000 units. Cruise passengers were up 10 percent to 509,000.
“The financial results are highly satisfactory but quite major investments await,” said CMP Managing Director Lars Karlsson. “It is clear that there are limits to how far turnover can be increased without us having to make significant investments in terminals and infrastructure. We need greater docking capacity for cruise ships and more loading and unloading space for new cars, for example.”
“CMP’s development plans in Malm' will provide ideal transshipment options between ship, train and trucks, helping to guarantee future growth opportunities. We also want to free up space for the distribution of cars and to set up a 750,000 square meter logistics park,” Karlsson added.
