Gothenburg weathers supply chain woes

The final quarter of 2022 saw growth of 8%, an increase for the ninth successive quarter. Overall in 2022 volumes increased by 7% to 885,000 teu with most containers handled by operator APM Terminals.

“Towards the end of 2022, we started to see a return to normal conditions in the logistics system after the years of pandemic accompanied by bottleneck problems, closures and shortages in both capacity and ships,” said Elvir Dzanic, chief executive of the Gothenburg Port Authority.

But consumer habits are changing, said Elvir Dzanic, with ‘experiences’ now more important than ‘things’.

‘Shopping frenzy is over’

“The signals from our import customers are clear: the big shopping frenzy is over,” he said, pointing to falling import volumes of clothing and home electronics.

“We saw clear indications towards the end of 2022, and the initial trend in 2023 suggests a further decline, as product owners in many cases have full warehouses and are seeing lower demand, resulting in reduced transport requirements,” he continued.

Swedish manufacturing and forestry remain strong and the automotive segment is stabilising with parts supply now meeting demand leading to increased sales and production.