German yes to Chinese takeover in Hamburg port

After intense and lengthy political discussions, the German government has now given permission for Chinese Cosco Shipping Ports Limited (CSPL) to buy into Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) at the port of Hamburg with a minority stake.

There has been intense political opposition in Germany to Cosco's desire to buy a stake in CTT from Hamburger Hafen und Logistik's (HHLA), and in the process, the stake has been reduced from the original 35 percent. to now 24.9 percent and the Chinese company gets neither exclusive rights to the terminal nor access to strategic know-how.

But because Germany's federal authorities for information security have categorized the HHLA-owned terminal as critical infrastructure, the deal required another approval, and that is what has now fallen into place.

"The decision makes it possible to expand CTT to become the preferred transshipment location for long-time HHLA customer Cosco," HHLA writes in a statement and continues:

"About 30 percent of the goods handled in the Port of Hamburg come from or are destined for China. CSPL's minority share thus ensures employment and strengthens Hamburg's national and international importance as a logistics hub as well as the industrial nation of Germany."

Container Terminal Tollerort is one of HHLA's three terminals in the Port of Hamburg. The Chinese acquisition was first announced in September 2021 but is now the first to fall into place in a scaled-down version.