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Aug 5, 2020 at 7:00 AMOn August 1, 2020, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement came into effect. Trade between the Port of Hamburg and Vietnam, which has already increased in recent years, is expected to benefit further from this. In 2019, 106,000 TEU were transported between Hamburg and Vietnam.
(Hamburg) Although the developments related to COVID-19 in 2020 have also affected trade between Germany and Vietnam, the Port of Hamburg has experienced very positive growth for the Vietnam route in recent times. In 2019, a new record amount of 106,000 standard containers (TEU) was transported between Hamburg and Vietnam. This increase of 15 percent compared to the previous year is also due to direct connections that carriers now offer for this route.
The free trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam, which was ratified by the European Parliament and the Vietnamese National Assembly in the first half of 2020, promises to create new market incentives that will result in increased transport volumes between the markets. Tariff barriers are to be dismantled for this purpose. This is particularly true for goods deliveries from Europe, for which 99 percent of all tariffs are to be eliminated within ten years. In turn, the EU will reduce tariffs on 84 percent of Vietnamese products to 0 percent upon the agreement’s entry into force, and after seven years, this will apply to 99 percent of tariffs.
Vietnam as an Attractive Production Location
Vietnam is involved in a variety of free trade agreements and is trying to position itself as an attractive production location in Southeast Asia in this way. This is especially true for companies that are relocating their production due to rising costs within Asia. To manage the resulting logistics of goods flows, Vietnam plans to invest 3.8 billion USD in the country’s port infrastructure.
The Port of Hamburg is connected to Vietnam by five liner services, serving both northern and southern ports of the country. In addition to two container services, three multipurpose services are operated. The latter are particularly suitable for project cargo and conventional breakbulk. The multipurpose vessels used can carry between 15,000 and 30,000 tons and are equipped with onboard cranes that can lift up to 700 tons in combined operation and even more in individual cases. The container services focus their operations on the container terminals in the vicinity of the economic center of Ho Chi Minh City, using ships with a capacity of 14,000 TEU. Other transshipment points can be reached via transshipment. The schedules of the multipurpose services include both conventional ports around Ho Chi Minh City and Haiphong near the capital Hanoi. Additional ports can be served upon request. The transit times between Hamburg and Vietnam range from 28 to 35 days, depending on the port, traffic direction, and rotation.
Shipping of Various Products
The import of goods from Vietnam in Hamburg mainly consists of machinery and equipment, including electronic products, and household appliances, followed by chemical products as well as metals and wooden goods. The Port of Hamburg mainly exports chemical products, paper and cardboard, as well as food and beverages to Vietnam.
Photo: © HHM / Dietmar Hasenpusch
