The amount of goods transported in the port of Nuremberg went up slightly. However, the Ukraine war is also leaving its mark on Nuremberg’s port according to the local media BR24.

The Bavarian port of Nuremberg recorded a slight increase last year. A total of around 4.3 million tonnes of goods were handled by ship and rail. This is 4.4 per cent more than in the previous year, said Bayernhafen Managing Director Joachim Zimmermann at the annual press conference of the Nuremberg port.

The container terminal in particular contributed to the positive result. More than 350,000 standard containers were handled between rail, road and water in Nuremberg. According to the port company, the facility is one of the most efficient in Europe.

Container terminal to be further expanded

In the coming years, the terminal is to be further expanded at a cost of 25 million euros. Two new crane facilities are planned, as well as additional parking and loading tracks. Shipping traffic has also increased in Nuremberg against the Bavarian-wide trend. The reason for this is coal deliveries for power plants that have been ramped up again due to the energy crisis.

Effects of the war in Ukraine

Overall, however, the volume of goods transported by ship in Bavaria fell by twelve percent. One reason for this was that there was hardly any free shipping capacity last year, Zimmermann said. Due to the war in Ukraine, more grain was transported by inland vessels. These were then not available for other operations. In addition, the low water levels last summer meant that only a fraction of the ships could be loaded.

Railway connection not affected

The regular rail freight connection between Chengdu in China and the port of Nuremberg is not affected by the war in Ukraine. The train runs once a week via Russia, Belarus and Poland and has not been suspended because of the sanctions, Zimmermann said.