duisport continues to grow

Of the three business divisions of the duisport Group - Infra and Superstructure, Logistics Services and Packaging Logistics - the Logistics Services division in particular contributed to the positive development in 2015. While the Infra and Superstructure division was able to improve its sales to EUR 48 million (2014: EUR 47 million), sales in the Logistics Services division grew by around 25% to EUR 76 million (2014: EUR 60 million). The growth in sales in this business segment was mainly due to project logistics, volume growth in the container and bulk goods area and the consulting and project business.

With sales of EUR 69 million in 2015, Packaging Logistics recorded a decline of around 3% compared to the previous year (2014: EUR 72 million). This decline is mainly due to the spin-off of the company IPS Integrated Project Services GmbH into the Logistics Services segment.

In the 2015 financial year, the duisport Group invested around 20 million euros (2014: 17 million euros). The focus was once again on expanding handling and terminal capacities. This included the construction of a second gantry crane at logport III and the expansion of the DIT terminal at logport I.

Total cargo throughput in public ports at record level

The total cargo throughput of all Duisburg ports amounted to 129 million tons last year (2014: 131 million tons). The slight decline compared to the previous year is due to the cyclical handling developments in the private works ports.

Total goods throughput in the duisport Group's ports grew by around 6% to 69 million tons (2014: 65 million tons), reaching a record level. A total of 35 million tons were handled here by rail and ship in 2015 - compared to 33 million tons in 2014. While ship handling reached the previous year's level at 16 million tons (2014: 16 million tons), rail handling improved on the previous year's figure by around 12% at 19 million tons (2014: 17 million tons).

The result in Combined Transport also increased. Container throughput grew by 6% to 3.6 million TEU (2014: 3.4 million TEU) and once again reached a new record.

"For the first time since the economic crisis in 2008/09, there was a slight decline in sea container throughput in the Hamburg - Le Havre Range. In view of this development, I am satisfied with the past year. Obviously we were able to gain further market share," says Staake.

In addition to Combined Transport, the Mineral Oils and Chemical Products segments were the main drivers in 2015. The market-related weakness in the steel business was offset by growth in these areas.

Land marketing in the Rhine/Ruhr region

At around 120,000 m², the overall marketing performance in the past financial year was lower than in the previous year (2014: 232,000 m²). The reason for this is the limited availability of large-scale logistics sites within Duisburg. Against this backdrop, the duisport Group is expanding its marketing activities in the Rhine/Ruhr region.

Benteler Distribution's new central warehouse was inaugurated in October 2015. The now 35,000 m² central warehouse offers storage capacity for up to 27,000 tons of pipes. With a height of 25 meters and 10,000 cassette spaces, the new high-bay warehouse is the largest in Europe.

Nanjing High Accurate Drive Equipment Manufacturing Group Co., Ltd (NGC) was the first Chinese company to set up operations in the Port of Duisburg in 2015. NGC is one of the global players for gear and drive technology and will serve the European market from its European headquarters in Duisburg in future.

Together with Evonik Industries AG, duisport founded the joint venture dev.log GmbH last year. The aim of the joint venture is to develop the 50 hectares of land available at Evonik's Lülsdorf site (south of Cologne) and to market it for the establishment of production and logistics companies. In doing so, duisport is strengthening its existing involvement in the logport ruhr joint venture for the development of logistics areas in the Ruhr region.

"The future prospects of this region lie in the efficient networking of industry and logistics. With the development of further commercial and logistics sites in the Rhine/Ruhr region, we will continue to offer our customers an optimal connection to the multimodal logistics hub of Duisburg in the coming years," says Staake.

Expansion of international commitment

The duisport Group further expanded its international activities in 2015. The focus here was particularly on the growth market of Turkey and the rail routes between Duisburg and China.

In November 2015, duisport and the leading Turkish logistics company Arkas Holding S.A. founded a joint venture. The aim is the joint development of multimodal logistics areas and the establishment of intermodal services in Turkey. One of the first projects focuses on the development and operation of a multimodal logistics area of over 200,000 m² near Istanbul. Plans include the construction of a bimodal terminal and the marketing of space for production and logistics companies.

Together with various rail operators, the transcontinental train connections to China were further expanded in the past year. Trains now run daily between Duisburg and various destinations in China, including Yiwu, Shenyang, Wuhan, Beijing and Chongqing. The aim of these measures is to underline and further develop Duisburg's position as a leading European rail hub for trans-Eurasian goods flows.

"The expansion of transcontinental train connections is becoming increasingly important. As the start and end point of the New Silk Road, Duisburg has recently become the focus of international players along the corridors. Together with our partners, we therefore want to make an active contribution to further expanding direct connections to China via the various routes and strengthening Duisburg's function as a leading logistics hub for Central Europe," says Staake.

Subdued development expected for 2016

duisport does not expect any significant improvement in global trade in 2016. In contrast to a few years ago, major Asian seaports are only reporting very low growth rates or, in some cases, significant declines. The current handling trends in the Hamburg-Le Havre Range are also not very optimistic.

"We are currently experiencing a steady increase in the flow of goods as a result of globalization and the associated double-digit growth rates in transport logistics are a thing of the past. There is currently no real driver for global economic growth. Growth impetus is therefore not to be expected in the current year, which means that we also anticipate subdued development in 2016," concludes Staake.

ON THE PICTURE: Prof. Thomas Schlipköther (Member of the Executive Board), Erich Staake (Chairman of the Executive Board), Markus Bangen (Member of the Executive Board)