Bremen-based port logistics companies BLG Logistics Group and Eurogate remain open to cooperating and continuing talks with Hamburg-based competitor HHLA. “Public speculation that these talks have been interrupted because of issues relating to company valuations or aspects of co-determination is not true,” BLG Logistics Group CEO Frank Dreeke told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. The cause was solely “external economic reasons”. However, it is quite conceivable that the talks will be resumed in some time.

Before the Corona pandemic, Eurogate and Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) had talked about merging their North German container terminals in Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven, but broke off talks during the pandemic. BLG is majority-owned by the city of Bremen, while Eurogate is 50 percent owned by BLG and 50 percent by the Eckelmann family of Hamburg. HHLA, in turn, is majority-owned by the city of Hamburg.

“The uncertainties that existed when we interrupted the talks still exist – especially the late effects of the pandemic and the consequences of the Ukraine war,” Dreeke said. Before talks could resume, he said, there needed to be more planning certainty. “At the moment, we can’t say when that will be.”

Eurogate-Co Managing Director Michael Blach sees the Port of Hamburg’s western expansion as a great opportunity for a leap forward in automation and the planned carbon-neutral operation of another terminal section. Eurogate remains interested in this, he said. “We need to discuss and negotiate the details further with the port authority HPA and with Hamburg’s economic authority.” This would also involve, for example, the distribution of costs for the necessary expansion of the turnstile at Waltershofer Hafen.

Source: DPA-AFX