Gothenburg tops Swedish container market
In Sweden, the container market witnessed a modest downturn of 1% during the first six months of 2019. However, the port of Gothenburg, the country's largest port, reported a rise in both market share and volumes. Between January and September this year, the figures went up by 4%, which was due mainly to a continued influx of hinterland rail volumes at the port.
After a downturn in the years 2016 to 2017, the growth rate of container traffic through Gothenburg picked up again. The recovery was particularly noticeable in 2018 with road-based traffic from western Sweden and its hinterland gradually returning to the port. The trend continued into 2019, with volumes increasing by 20% between January and September. Long-distance volumes from northern and eastern Sweden are also making a comeback.
The throughput of new cars at the port of Gothenburg fell by 8% compared with the previous year, due primarily to a decrease in imports as a result of the fall in new car sales in Sweden during the same period. On the plus side, a turnaround was noted in September with 26,500 cars handled, while the handling of oil and energy products was down 10%, reaching 15.9 million t for January-September. (fd)