Hamburg

Photo : D.R.

Hamburg’s maritime freight industry seems to be recession-proof. In 2008, an impressive 119 million tonnes of merchandise was loaded and unloaded in the region. The figure, which was still less than 100 million tonnes a mere three years ago, has gone up every year since 1994. “There are a number of reasons for this,” says Katharina Kurt, Head of Communication at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. “Firstly, low labour costs are encouraging an increasing number of companies to work with offshore producers. Secondly, exports represent an opportunity for a growing number of firms on the lookout for new markets. And, thirdly, there is an ecological aspect: maritime traffic is a less polluting alternative.”
This favourable combination of factors is of direct benefit to a region whose infrastructure is capable of handling large quantities of merchandise. Indeed, maritime traffic can be transported to its final destination via numerous rail and road links radiating outwards from Hamburg. With some 8,000 companies active in the transport and logistics services, the region generates twice as much added value as the national average.  “In the next few years, we hope to increase the amount of business we do with the Baltic states,” Mrs Kurt says. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania already account for a quarter of the turnover generated by the region’s international trade. Last March, a treaty between Denmark and its German neighbour was ratified by a large majority in Copenhagen, green-lighting the construction of a road and rail bridge spanning the Fehmarn Straights and linking the two countries. The bridge will take 150 km off the distance between Copenhagen and Hamburg, making journeys shorter and reducing costs.
The HafenCity development, an on-going project on the banks of the River Elbe, represents another string to the region’s bow. If everything goes according to plan, by 2020 the site will have been transformed into a large industrial and commercial centre with almost 12,000 inhabitants and 40,000 jobs. A new metro line is to be built to link the development to Hamburg.

Population: 1 770 629
Surface area: 755 km2
Maritime freight: 118 915 (total goods loaded and unloaded in thousands of tons in 2008)