Maritime Trade and Transport - HWWI

Shares of individual shipping areas in total cargo handling (in t), 2004
Atlantic
Mediterrranean
Fig. 20
Baltic Sea
19%
12%
26%
the ports on the Atlantic (19%), and the Baltic Sea area (12%) (see Fig. 20). The great importance
of the North Sea area stems in part from the fact that the hinterland of the North Range
of European seaports, extending from Le Havre to Hamburg, are very densely populated in
comparison with the EU average. This means that the North Range offers a comparatively
large market, with correspondingly intense trade relations. 24
4.2 Europe’s ports at a glance
43%
The total amount of goods handled in the European shipping area differs considerably among
the individual regions and ports. Each of the four European sea areas contains a single dominant
port location whose volume of goods handled lies far above that of the others. In 2004,
the ten largest ports in the North Sea area accounted for 28% of the total cargo handling
amount of the 471 ports reviewed. The ten largest Mediterranean ports accounted for 13%,
those in the Atlantic area 10%, and those in the Baltic Sea area 6% of the total amount of
cargo handled by the 471 ports reviewed. In 2004, Rotterdam handled 10% of the total cargo
handled by the largest European ports and was thus dominant within the European shipping
areas.
Half of the top 10 Baltic Sea total cargo handled in 2004 was unloaded in Rotterdam and
Antwerp. Rotterdam and Antwerp were the only European ports represented in 2005 among
the world’s ten largest ports (measured by total cargo handling). With handling amounting to
370 mn t in 2005, Rotterdam was one of the largest ports in the world, holding third place
behind Shanghai (annual handling 443 mn t) and Singapore (annual handling 423 mn t).
With 160 mn t, Antwerp was 10th in the world ranking list. 25 All told, 1.5 bn t of goods were
loaded and unloaded at the EU North Sea ports, with 946 mn t handled by the top 10 ports
24 See Amerini (2005).
38 Berenberg Bank · HWWI: Strategy 2030 · No. 4
North Sea
Source: Eurostat (2006).