Container handling in German ports in the exchange of goods with China is more than twice as high as with the USA. The People’s Republic accounted for more than a fifth (21.5 percent) in 2022, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Thursday. The United States follows in second place with a share of 10.2 percent. There are three Chinese ports among the five most important foreign partner ports in container traffic: The most important partner port was Shanghai with a volume of 893,000 twenty-foot standard containers (twenty-foot equivalent units/TEU), followed by Singapore (576,000), Ningbo ( 508,000), New York (403,000) and Shenzhen (391,000).
Despite all the political warnings about over-dependence, German business trade with China rose to a record high last year. Goods worth around 298 billion euros were traded between the two countries – growth of around 21 percent compared to 2021. The People’s Republic remained Germany’s most important trading partner for the seventh year in a row. German exports of around 107 billion euros are offset by imports from China of 191 billion euros. In the trade balance with the People’s Republic, Germany is showing a record deficit of around 84 billion euros. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner sees this as a “dangerous development”.
Goods handling at German seaports fell by 3.2 percent last year – also because of the slump in trade with Russia, which was subject to sanctions because of the Ukraine war. A total of 279.1 million tons of goods were handled. The most important German seaport was Hamburg with a handling volume of 103.4 million tons (-7.2 percent compared to the previous year), followed at a clear distance by Bremerhaven (42.8 million tons, -8.7 percent), Wilhelmshaven (31.8 million tons, +7.6 percent), Rostock (21.3 million tons, -3.2 percent) and Lübeck (16.4 million tons, -6.9 percent).