Page 12 - Port of Hamburg |Brochure |Port of Hamburg Magazine 2.2021

■ BREAKBULK
Timber shipments from Sauerland
Trains should be running up to three times a week from Warstein to Hamburg. A vast quantity of timber reaches the rest of the world via the Port of Hamburg.
Extensive pastures, artificial lakes and forests as far as the eye can see: Most people know Sauerland as a tourist paradise. Yet ‘the region of a thousand hills’ is also an important area for the German economy. With almost 300,000 hectares of forest, Sauerland is impor- tant for the population as a source of raw materials. Large numbers of conifers in Sauerland mean a high in- cidence of trees that experience calamity. While great importance is attached to sustainable exploitation of forests, afforestation and climate protection regionally, nationally and in the European Union, most of the tim- ber attacked by bark beetles needs to exit the forest as quickly as possible and requires takers. This is where the Port of Hamburg comes into play, facilitating ex- port of tree trunks as ‘Gateway to the World’. Along the entire supply chain commencing on the spot in a Sauerland forest, the process calls for expert kno- whow, smooth cooperation and utmost flexibility from the players involved.
Due to leave on the sea voyage to Asia within days, the round timber traditionally handled as breakbulk cargo is here loaded direct into containers. Nationally, repeated efforts are made to ship felled timber as an open cargo. Nevertheless, such methods fail to pre- vail against the container transport that offers simpler and more reliable handling. The applies especially to the Asian market, where most ports have specialized in containers.
Once loaded, and weighing tons, the shipment leaves by truck for Warstein, a town of less than 30,000 in- habitants on the NW edge of Sauerland. Since 2005, the world-famous brewery of that name has been op- erating its own rail terminal with three weekly services to Hamburg. To guarantee optimal load factors for the trains, and hence environment-friendly hinterland ship- ments, it’s not just beer that is shipped worldwide from there by rail. The terminal is also open to shippers from the region generally.
The Sauerland region contains almost 300,000 hectares of forest. Timber from there reaches the rest of the world via the Port of Hamburg
12 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | June 2021
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