German ports' inland box volume up 18.4%

Container traffic on German waterways surged 18.4 percent to a record high in 2010, outpacing a 12.8 percent growth in total shipments across Europe's biggest inland shipping network.


Box traffic reached almost 2.2 million 20-foot equivalent units last year compared with 1.85 million TEUs in 2009, according to government figures.


The government didn't provide figures for international and domestic shipments, but much of the traffic consists of containers transported on the river Rhine to and from the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Amsterdam.


Total traffic rose to nearly 230 million metric tons from 204 million tons in 2009 with imports surging 24 percent to 104 million tons.


Iron ore and scrap shipments increased 36 percent to 35 million tons, and coal and chemical products were up 17 percent at 21 million tons.
(Source:http://en.portnews.ru)