After completing the investment review process, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) and the Chinese state-owned company Cosco signed the contracts for a minority stake in the Tollerort terminal, as HHLA announced on Monday.
View of the container terminal in Tollerort in the port of Hamburg.
A Cosco subsidiary is thus taking a 24.99 percent stake. The Chinese are paying around 42 million euros for this, according to a company announcement. The terminal is to become a preferred transhipment point for Cosco, where cargo flows between Asia and Europe are to be concentrated. HHLA was convinced on Monday, but surprisingly sober. The cooperation with China strengthens Hamburg’s position as a logistics hub in the North and Baltic Sea regions as well as in the industrial nation of Germany.
port economy reacts with relief
“This project has finally been realised,” says Gunther Bonz, President of the Port of Hamburg Business Association. He speaks of a good result, which was made more difficult and unnecessarily delayed by the long process at federal level. Michael Kruse, spokesman for port policy for the FDP parliamentary group, believes that the time for excuses for weak results is now over for HHLA. HHLA is hoping for additional cargo from the Cosco deal. The Tollerort terminal is currently underutilized.
Entry of Cosco controversial
Cosco and HHLA have been working together for more than 40 years. Cosco and HHLA began talks about an investment in June 2021. Cosco originally wanted to take over 35 percent of the terminal operating company. However, several federal ministries had protested against this, so the cabinet set the quota at under 25 percent in October last year in order to prevent Cosco from becoming a blocking minority.
Coco doesn’t get any decision rights
Throughout the entire process, HHLA repeatedly emphasized that the operational management of the terminal, all customer relationships and also the IT systems were managed centrally by the Group. Cosco does not get access to it and does not get any decision-making rights. This also applies to the land of the terminal, which continues to belong entirely to the city of Hamburg.
China is the Port of Hamburg’s largest trading partner
According to HHLA, China is the largest trading partner of Germany and the Port of Hamburg. Around 30 percent of the goods handled in the Port of Hamburg come from or go to China.
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NDR 90.3 | NDR 90.3 Current | 06/19/2023 | 3:00 p.m