According to the news that appeared in "The Journal of Commerce Online" dated December 21, 2010 (enclose), Europe’s ports will finish this year with a 13.8 percent increase in containerized import volumes that will approach 2008 levels, with additional increases expected in 2011.
Imports are forecast to rise 8 to 9 percent in 2011, with exports expanding more than 5 percent, according to the Global Port Tracker North Europe trade Outlook by Hackett Associates and the Bremen Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics. “Most of the growth will come in the second half of the year,” said Ben Hackett, head of Hackett Associates, which also produces the U.S. Global Port Tracker for the National Retail Federation.