A large proportion of Swedish imports and exports pass through the Port of Gothenburg. There has been a very noticeable recovery in the economy during the first quarter of the year. Container traffic has broken all records and car exports within Europe are back to pre-crisis levels.
Visits by cruise ships to Gothenburg continue to break new records. This year 51 vessels will visit the city. On board will be 64,000 passengers eager to discover the friendly city of Gothenburg.
The Port of Gothenburg is continuing to invest in the environment. Shipping lines that choose a cleaner fuel for their vessels when in port waters can now be reimbursed for their increased fuel costs.
The ports in Gothenburg, Århus and Tallinn have received EUR 24.8 million in EU support. A joint project has been set up with the aim of improving sea transport throughout the whole of the Baltic region. The investment in the Port of Gothenburg amounts to EUR 11.5 million and will be used to eliminate bottlenecks in the infrastructure.
Today, Port of Gothenburg signed a ten-year concession agreement with the Swedish logistics company Logent, which will operate the Car Terminal at the Port of Gothenburg – Gothenburg Car Terminal AB.
Today a further step was taken towards cleaner shipping in Gothenburg. Stena Line will inaugurate a completely new onshore power supply facility for the company's ferries operating between Sweden and Germany. In total, one in three vessels that put into the Port of Gothenburg can now turn off their diesel engines at the quayside and instead use green, onshore power supply.
The Port of Gothenburg's standing as an export gateway for Swedish paper will be boosted even further with the announcement by the logistics company RPG of plans to build a new forestry terminal.
Paper, timber and other forestry industry products are moved by rail from paper mills and saw mills throughout Sweden to the Port of Gothenburg for onward transport by sea to export marke
Göteborgs Hamn AB and has signed a 25-year concession agreement with DFDS A/S and C.PORTS S.A, who will run the Ro-Ro Terminal through a joint company.
The Vaggeryd Inland Terminal has become an integral part of the Port of Gothenburg. The terminal is the first in the country to take over customs clearance for imported goods. Companies in the Småland region can now benefit from more rapid and more reliable transport.
TransAtlantic is expanding its traffic via the Port of Gothenburg by adding the port to its container service between Finland and Germany. This move will reinforce the position of the Port of Gothenburg as the most important freight hub in Scandinavia.
The recovery from the downturn in freight volumes in 2009 is continuing. During the first half of the year an increase was reported in both containers and ro/ro units. The largest increase – almost 70 per cent - was noted in the car segment.
The figures for the first four months of the year show an increase in the volume of freight passing through the port. The biggest increase is in the car segment, which is also the area that was hit hardest during the recession of 2009.