Sweden's largest ports attract significant growth while smaller ports experience declining volumes, and the trend is only accelerating, revealed recent figures from the Swedish Ports Association.
The third quarter of the year was challenging for Swedish shipping and many Swedish ports lost volume. During the pandemic, cargo flows increasingly shifted from the east to the west coast and from the smaller ports to larger ports, which is a trend that is accelerating.
"It is clear what is happening to the Swedish goods flows. The fact that APM Terminals Gothenburg has grown ten-times more than the next largest growth port is largely due to our broad portfolio and high capacity. We managed to keep direct traffic to Asia running on a weekly basis without interruption. Together this was fundamental for the country's trade with world markets during the pandemic," says Magnus Lundberg, Commercial Manager at APM Terminals Gothenburg.
"In addition to short-term effects, we are seeing increased demand for our solutions, where our fossil-free container handling is linked to environmentally friendly rail transport in order to reduce the carbon footprint from Sweden's imports and exports. This is an area where we have made significant investments, and we are glad that our customers value climate-smart freight transport," concludes Lundberg.
Disturbance in Europe has required extra flexibility in Gothenburg
Bad weather conditions, reduced supply of empty containers and changed global goods flows have characterized European ports in recent weeks. This has resulted in delays and many vessels being forced to wait for their slot.
"The challenges on the continent have also been seen at APM Terminals in Gothenburg. In order to meet customer needs, we have increased capacity in the form of extra calls, extra staff and extended opening hours during weekends. Thanks to this flexibility, we were able to help our customers get a slot in the timetable and get goods to end customers on time," says Jasmin Mjudzic, Operational Manager at APM Terminals Gothenburg.
Source: APM Terminals