Baltic growth shines in gloomy economy

Whilst the three major economies of Europe may be becalmed over the next quarter or two, there are still parts of parts of Europe that are growing vigorously. In particular, the Baltic region is seeing double digit growth in volumes, driven both by the strength of the Scandinavian and Baltic states‘ economies as well as that of the volatile Russian market.

The big German ports operator HHLA (Hamburger Hafen und Logistik), which operates Hamburg port and its connecting intermodal network, reported a half-yearly increase in container volume throughput of 29.6% for the port and a 15.9% increase for its intermodal container transport network, which stretches from Germany into Central Europe. Although this growth was partially attributed to traffic with the Far East, HHLA said that the key driver of growth was the Baltic feeder routes between "Poland, the Baltic States and the Russian Federation", which grew by 77% to a total volume of 0.44m TEU.

The short sea shipping company DFDS also reported similarly buoyant demand in the Baltic. Whilst second quarter volumes on the English Channel and the North Sea were broadly flat, volumes in the Baltic increased by 13.7%. Furthermore, the company is investing heavily in new capacity and has just opened a new service between Germany and Russia.

The background to this is a region that has strong economic health. Scandinavia generally has stable growth, whilst the Baltic States have staged vigorous economic recoveries from the acute economic distress experienced during the recession, with annual GDP growth in the region of 4-6%. The Polish economy continues to grow, driven both by foreign direct investment and infrastructure investment. However, it is Russia that is having the largest impact, with wild swings in consumer markets such as automotive sales, which saw annualised growth for the half year of around 50%.

These numbers highlight the substantial divergence in performance and prospects for logistics markets around Europe. In contrast to say, southern Europe, central Europe is seeing fundamentals which will continue to drive demand for new services and infrastructure. Eastern Europe is a more extreme situation with continuing violent growth obstructed by an inadequate infrastructure market and an economy still heavily reliant on raw materials such as oil and gas.

Quelle: eyefortransport
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