Along with Hamburg Invest, last week Port of Hamburg Marketing visited Hong Kong. More than 170 representatives of shipping, logistics, industry, politics and trade associations used the Port of Hamburg’s Evening Reception on 24 November to brief themselves of the latest developments in Germany’s largest universal port. Hosts Mathias Schulz, Head of Asian Market Development at Port of Hamburg Marketing (HHM), Anne Thiesen, Head of the Port of Hamburg Representative Office in Hong Kong, Kolja Harders of the Free & Hanseatic City’s Ministry of Economics, Transport and Innovation, Stefan Matz of Hamburg Invest, and Axel Mattern, Joint CEO of HHM, were delighted to be able to welcome Dieter Lamlé, German Consul-General in Hong Kong, as guest speaker and Angela Lee, Deputy Secretary for Transport & Housing Bureau of Hong Kong SAR Government as their Guest of Honour.
“Port of Hamburg Marketing conducts successful location marketing in Hong Kong and China for the port and its great variety of service providers. We position the Port of Hamburg as the Northern European hub for the Chinese market. As a vital centre for handling growing foreign trade volumes, the Port of Hong Kong discharges an especially important function. In our numerous discussions with shippers, as Germany’s largest port we benefit from optimal access by feeder services to the Baltic region. Compared with other ports in Europe, we also offer the highest number of rail services with the hinterland. People in Hong Kong are well acquainted with Hamburg and its strengths. The wide choice of liner services is a further advantage. With six liner services per week, shippers enjoy a splendid choice of links between Hong Kong and Hamburg,” emphasized Axel Mattern.
In the first nine months of 2017, two million TEU (20-ft standard containers) were transported between China and Hamburg. “By comparison with the previous year, we can report a 2.5 percent rise in container traffic, representing stable growth. We are assuming that increasing demand from countries in Eastern Europe offers excellent prospects for the development of the China trade via Hamburg,” said Axel Mattern, Joint CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing.
For Hamburg as a universal port, China is its most important trading partner by a wide margin. For instance, China’s share of total Port of Hamburg container throughput is around 29 percent. With a 50 percent share of import and export volume, Hamburg is also the leading transhipment centre for German foreign trade with China. “Almost one in three of all containers handled in the Port of Hamburg is bound for China or originated there. For that reason, the Chinese market is intensively cultivated by Port of Hamburg Marketing (HHM) and its port representative offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai,” said Anne Thiesen, Manager of the Port of Hamburg Representative Office in Hong Kong.
The Port of Hamburg
