14 LOGISTICS


Port of Gothenburg: Sweden’s freight hub


Terminal operated by Älvsborg Roro AB


The terminals primarily responsible for handling pulp and paper at the largest port in Scandinavia are identi fi ed by consultant editor David Young


A


lmost 30 per cent of Sweden’s foreign trade, mainly forest products, passes through the


Port of Gothenburg, which is the largest in Scandinavia with more than 11,000 vessels docking there each year. The port off ers a very wide range


of routes, with traffi c to more than 140 desti nati ons throughout the world. There are, for example, direct routes to the USA, the Middle East, India and Asia. The Port of Gothenburg is also the only one in Sweden with the capacity to receive the very largest ocean-going container vessels. Some 900,000 TEU containers were recorded through the port in 2012. Around 25 rail shutt les depart each day, off ering companies throughout Sweden and Norway a direct, environmentally- friendly link to the port and the opportunity to uti lise the broad range of routes. We asked Magnus Kårestedt,


November 2013


chief executi ve of Gothenburg Port Authority, what it means for the local region and Sweden to have access to a major internati onal port.


“It is important for the whole


country,” he emphasised. “The existence of a major port is the one requirement that is cited consistently by all sectors of Swedish trade and industry. It involves a wide range of routes that lead directly to key desti nati ons on all conti nents, high-frequency sea and land transport, a large number of players to create a competi ti ve market and a high proporti on of direct shipping. “A major port also generates a


large number of job opportuniti es, partly through what are pure logisti cs operati ons and partly through the establishment of companies within the port’s catchment area.” The Port of Gothenburg has


favourable, natural conditi ons for developing further as a freight


hub (42 million tons of freight was handled in 2012), thanks to its strategic positi on as a link between the Atlanti c/North Sea and the Balti c Sea. The aim is to conti nue to develop the infrastructure within and outside the port in order to generate even greater capacity and improved access.


Since 2010, the port has been divided into a municipal Port Authority and separate terminal companies that are responsible for day-to-day operati ons. There are a number of terminals located at the port, but Älvsborg Roro AB and APM Terminals Gothenburg are primarily responsible for handling pulp and paper products.


Älvsborg Roro AB Älvsborg Roro AB is a vital link in the Swedish export and import chain. Uniti sed rolling goods of every kind are loaded and unloaded by the terminal’s 300 employees. Apart from trailers, large volumes of trucks and


Pulp Paper & Logistics


containers are also handled. Vessels sailing to and from Belgium, the UK and Finland call at the terminal on a regular basis. Complex logisti cs systems


have been developed in close collaborati on with customers, import and export companies and shipping lines. Each day, goods arrive by rail at Älvsborg Roro. The tracks lead directly into the terminal and the 14,000 sqm weather-protected Paper Logisti cs Centre where paper can be unloaded from the rail trucks and cross-docking undertaken. Cross-docking means that a load


from a load carrier (a container, for example) is broken down and divided between one or more other load carriers, depending on the fi nal desti nati on of the goods. Älvsborg Roro has daily


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