German car manufacturer exports continue to boom, and the in-dustry’s forecasts do not indicate a collapse any time soon, according to BLG’s automotive logistics division.

    BLG chief executive Detthold Aden said the logistics outfit will achieve a total of more than six million vehicles in the automotive lo-gistics division this year.

    “Our Bremerhaven automobile terminal is our front-runner with over two million vehicles and a growth of more than 30 percent. This sees us reaching the top figures in 2007 and 2008 again,” Aden said.

    BLG has this year recorded clear growth in all operational business divisions. The results, however, are not yet back at their pre-crisis level.

    “We expect pre-tax earnings of more than US$52 million this year. In 2010, this was $44 million. The sales revenue may total somewhat more than $1.3 billion by the end of the year. It was $1.17 billion in 2010.”

    The joint venture with Russian company FESCO is a new addition to the automotive logistics division. The company develops extensive logistics solutions for the Russian car markets. These are set to grow by an average of 15 percent per year, and become Europe’s largest car market in the near future. BLG is already on site with terminals and transportation facilities, and wants to become a key player in Russian automotive logistics.

    The cornerstones of the contract logistics division are the business fields: car parts, industrial logistics, trade logistics and seaport logis-tics. Car parts logistics performed well this year, and Bremen is the strongest location, now with over 1,000 jobs.

    However, the conventional turnover of 1.5 million tonnes at the Neus-tadt port did not meet expectations. “We continue to run the Neustadt port with its 200 jobs, but will also use parts for the growing automo-tive logistics,” said Aden.

    Logistics for offshore wind energy is a new business division. BLG invested $26 million in heavy-duty areas at the Bremerhaven car ter-minal, in handling and fastening systems, and in a special pontoon for transporting heavy construction elements.

    The OFFSHORE BHV 1 pontoon was christened on December 16 and will soon transport up to 900 tonnes of heavy foundation structures for the Global Tech I wind park.

    However, wind power plant components are also stored and handled at the Bremerhaven container terminal and Neustadt port. According to Aden, the Bremerhaven terminals are only interim solutions; busi-ness is set to move to the planned Bremerhaven offshore terminals when it will be completed. The automobile and container areas were required for the increased handling of vehicles and containers, which also involves more added value.

    The EUROGATE joint venture is developing BLG´s most profitable business division, container logistics. The handling volume is above last year’s level at all terminals, and Bremerhaven is the forerunner with around 5.9 million TEU.

    In doing so, the terminal partnerships with Maersk affiliate APM Terminals and the shipping company MSC demonstrate their strengths. The world’s largest container shipping companies were bound to Bremerhaven for the long-term by virtue of the two joint ventures.

    However, shipowners are complaining about the insufficient water depth in the outer Weser. Only container ships with a draught of maximum 12.80 metres, regardless of tide, can call at Bremerhaven.

    “We could have a lot more containers in Bremerhaven if we weren’t restricted by the waterway depth,” she said. “The waterway adjust-ment must eventually be tackled so as not to hinder Bremerhaven’s development any longer. Planning approval was obtained a time ago.”

    Aden also believes the waterways in the lower Weser should be ad-justed. The most important major customers cannot reach Bremen port with fully loaded ships. With sufficient water depth BLG could even achieve more cargo in Bremen.

    Aden was optimistic about the end of the year at the state press con-ference. However, it will take time to get pre-tax earnings back at the record level of 2008 with over $104 million. It will certainly not be achieved in 2012.

    “But even if Germany weakens macroeconomically in 2012, BLG will continue to grow, at least in the lower one-digit percent region.”

(Source:http://www.cargonewsasia.com/secured/article.aspx?id=7&article=27390)