The entry of the major Swiss shipping company MSC into the port operator HHLA is not expected to change the competitive conditions for container handling in Hamburg.

"Nothing will change for customers," said HHLA CEO Angela Titzrath in a video transcript published on Monday. "Business relations will continue as usual, and there will be no preferential treatment for individual customers," she added.

In mid-September, the City of Hamburg, the largest owner of HHLA, announced that MSC would be joining the Hanseatic city's largest terminal operator, a rival of Hamburg-based shipping company Hapag-Lloyd. To this end, the industry leader MSC is to acquire almost half of the shares in HHLA. The Hanseatic city will reduce its stake from just under 70 percent to 50.1 percent.

The planned partial sale had triggered concerns in the Hamburg port industry that other shipping companies could turn their backs on HHLA and that the port as a whole could lose cargo. MSC CEO Soren Toft countered this in a newspaper interview, stating that his shipping company would invest in the growth of the Port of Hamburg together with the city. "We will bring additional handling volumes to Hamburg, and we will also contribute our experience, investments and innovative strength," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Monday edition). HHLA shareholders are to receive a concrete purchase offer from MSC in a few days. Until then, a joint investment plan is to be drawn up with the Hanseatic city.

Titzrath explained how the equal treatment of customers is to be ensured: "Sensitive customer data, such as information on pricing or freight volumes, will not be passed on to third parties or shareholders," emphasized the HHLA CEO. Contractual and organizational precautions should be taken for this.

(Report by Jan C. Schwartz, edited by Ralf Banser. If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)