Container traffic and bulk handling

Some 26,000 TEUs were handled in the container sector last year. About 10,000 of the 20 ft boxes were from Kazakhstan. They arrived at the Ostuferhafen via Riga and were forwarded by block train into the western German hinterland. However these containers, containing supplements used in the manufacture of steel, have in the meantime been withdrawn from Kiel and are now being handled via Rotterdam.

Bulk handling volumes declined overall in 2010 by some 6 % to more than 1.4 million tons. While the import of fuels (oil and coal) increased both in the Nordhafen and at the Ostuferhafen, the handling of agricultural products (grain) and building materials (gravel) dropped off.