Germany Approves Cosco Stake in Hamburg Port Terminal
Port logistics firm HHLA said on Wednesday the German government has cleared the purchase by China’s Cosco of a 24.9% stake in a container terminal in the sea port of Hamburg, amid a political row over Chinese investment in the German economy.A spokesperson for the German government said in a statement that Berlin had informed HHLA and Cosco that their reworked deal was compliant with a cabinet decision in the fall of last year that limits the ownership of Chinese state firm Cosco in the terminal to less than 25%.The deal was also in line with Berlin declaring the terminal, known as Tollerort,
Rhine Water Level Falls Again in Germany, Raising Freight Costs
Water levels on the Rhine in Germany continue to fall in hot weather, sending shipping costs higher because vessels cannot sail on the river fully loaded, vessel brokers said on Friday.Freight shipping on the river continues but with vessels sometimes forced to sail 75% empty.Low Rhine water will also hit output from two German coal-fired power stations in the coming months.The water level is particularly low at the chokepoint of Kaub near Koblenz. The reference waterline level at Kaub was only 56 centimeters on Friday…
Regulators Clear Way for Merger of Hapag-Lloyd and Vapores
Germany's Hapag-Lloyd said on Tuesday it had received the last outstanding regulatory approvals for its planned merger with Chilean shipper Compania SudAmericana de Vapores, clearing the way for the two companies to be formally combined. The merger, which will create the world's No. 4 container-shipping company, is important for the shipping industry which hopes that consolidation will ease the pressure on freight rates, helping it to overcome the worst slump on record. Hapag-Lloyd said it would execute a planned capital increase worth 370 million euros ($459 million) by Dec. 31, which will make Vapores its biggest shareholders with a 34 percent stake. The main steps to integrate the two companies should be completed by the end of the second quarter 2015, it said.
Hapag-Lloyd Operating Profit Down on Lower Freight Rates
Germany's Hapag-Lloyd's said it expected operating profit to drop considerably this year after tough competition in container shipping dragged freight rates lower in the second quarter. The company, partly owned by TUI AG, posted a second-quarter operating loss of 73.7 million euros ($98.5 million), compared with an operating profit of 13.5 million euros a year earlier. "The fact that we ended up with this unsatisfactory result despite clear efforts to cut costs is down to the disappointing development of freight rates across all trades," Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen said in a statement on Tuesday. Its quarterly net loss widened to 173.3 million euros from 72.7 million a year earlier…
