Port of Hamburg’s annual traffic tops 6 millions TEUs

Port of Hamburg’s annual traffic tops 6 millions TEUs    The port of Hamburg, one of the fastest-growing north European container ports, reported that it handled an estimated 6.2 million TEUs in 2003, about 15 percent more than the 5.4-million-TEU throughput of the previous year.
   The final figure for 2003 will be known at the end of this month. Container volumes in Hamburg have experienced an annual growth of more than 10 percent each year since the infrastructure improvements of the river Elbe in 1999.
   Total tonnage for all commodity types at the German port exceeded 100 million tons for the first time in 2003. In 2002, the port handled a tonnage of 97 million tons.
   The port of Rotterdam recently reported an increase in box traffic of 8 percent for 2003, to 7 million TEUs, while the port of Antwerp said it handled 5.45 million TEUs in 2003, 14 percent more than in 2002.