BERLIN, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The volume of goods handled at German seaports in 2019 decreased slightly by 0.3 percent compared to the previous year to 294.5 million tons, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Monday.
The highest volume of sea cargo handled at German ports was destined for markets in Europe but decreased by 2.6 percent to 165.9 million tons, followed by Asia which saw a "moderate" increase of 2.6 percent to 56.4 million tons.
Cargo handling by sea between Germany and China rose by 8.9 percent compared with the previous year.
According to Destatis, 23.9 million tons of goods were traded with China. A total of 13.5 million tons of goods were shipped to Germany from Chinese seaports, while 10.4 million tons were transported to China from German seaports.
Sea trade between Germany and Africa had grown "significantly" by 21.8 percent to 17.5 million tons, Destatis noted.
As in the previous year, total container handling in Germany was at 15.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2019. With 3.1 million TEUs, China continued to "lead by a clear margin" in container traffic with German seaports, ahead of the United States and Russia.
Destatis is planning to publish first monthly results for maritime transport in 2020 at the end of April.
