HHLA prepares participation
Cosco deal as good as wiped clean
05/19/2023 4:54 p.m
The federal government only approved the controversial participation of Cosco in a terminal in the port of Hamburg a week ago after a long struggle. The Chinese state shipping company and the Hamburg port logistics company are now on the verge of finalizing the minority stake.
The port logistics group HHLA wants to conclude the controversial entry of the Chinese state shipping company Cosco at a Hamburg container terminal soon. HHLA is currently preparing the implementation with Cosco and will “finalize the transaction promptly”, the company explained on request. The minority interest of Cosco Shipping Ports makes it possible to develop the container terminal in Tollerort into a preferred transshipment point for HHLA’s long-standing customer.
In view of the strong competition among European ports, this is good news for the Hamburg metropolitan region. A company spokeswoman said the dramatic decline in container throughput in the first quarter had no impact on the stake. It is a long-term cooperation.
Shipping companies all over the world are investing in container terminals and thereby securing their capacities. Conversely, ports benefit from such agreements because their facilities are utilized to capacity.
Hamburg has been struggling with declining volumes of goods not just since the Ukraine war. At the beginning of the year, container handling in Germany’s largest seaport had shrunk by 17 percent to 1.9 million 20-foot standard containers (TEU) due to the weakening economy.
The federal government only released Cosco’s stake of less than 25 percent a week ago after a long struggle. It was determined that the container terminal in Tollerort is now considered to be the operator of critical infrastructure in accordance with legal requirements. This classification has long been debated. Originally, the Chinese group wanted to take a 35 percent stake in the smallest terminal of Hamburger Hafen- und Logistik AG (HHLA).