Business

Germany ‘rolling over for enemies of free world’ after Red China buys up stake in Hamburg Port

Published

4 years ago

2022/11/13

ByJorg Luyken IN HAMBURG
5 November 2022 • 3:01pm
Scholtz Jinping

On the south bank of Hamburg’s sprawling harbour, one of the largest cargo ships on the planet, a 400-metre behemoth with “Cosco Shipping” emblazoned on the side, is being unloaded on a rain-swept quay.A dozen cranes lift containers down from the Chinese vessel before smaller straddle carriers whisk them away down Germany’s Elbe river.

This intricate operation is a vivid reminder of the deep trade links that connect Germany to the Far East. The Tollerort Terminal, one of four at Hamburg’s giant port, is almost exclusively used by a single shipping company – China’s state-owned Cosco.But the city of Hamburg’s decision to go one step further and sell a minority stake in the terminal to the Chinese firm has led to uproar.

Critics say it shows that Germany is failing to learn the lessons of its disastrous reliance on Russian gas and is still seeking to chum up to autocrats in order to secure preferential treatment for its companies.

“What still has to happen for Germany to arrive in reality and not roll over in front of the enemies of the free world?” asked Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a senior Free Democrat politician.

Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, was in China on Friday to talk to leader Xi Jinping and, according to reports, he did not bring up Cosco.

A comment piece on Saturday by public broadcaster ARD called the trip to Beijing, which has been heavily criticised, “a continuation of Scholz’ lonely course, in which he has proven in the past that… despite all the warnings from advisors, ministries and security authorities, he personally opened the gate to the port of Hamburg to China.”

On Saturday, Mr Scholz defended his trip to China as “worth it” due to an agreement to oppose the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has also warned Berlin that “we have made strategic errors in the past with the sale of infrastructure to China”.

Media reports suggest that Mr Scholz, who was mayor of Hamburg for seven years, pushed the deal through against the objections of most of his Cabinet.But he had to accept a compromise by which Cosco’s share fell from 35 per cent to 24.9 per cent.At the offices of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA), the company selling part of its business to Cosco, the deal is justified on the grounds that all of Hamburg’s competitors have already done the same thing.

“Hamburg is stuck in an extremely hard competition with the other European harbours,” says Hans-Jorg Heims an HHLA spokesman.

Cosco already holds stakes in Europe’s other two major ports, Rotterdam and Antwerp, leading Hamburg to fear that Cosco would take its business elsewhere.

“They could have said: ‘why should we land our freight at Hamburg when we have part-ownership of harbours in Rotterdam and Antwerp?’” Mr Heims says.

For a city whose fortunes rest on the success of its harbour, that was a risk that no one was willing to take.

“The harbour is the heart of Hamburg’s economy, that was always the case and it will remain the case in the future,” says Norbert Aust, head of the city’s chamber of commerce, who has welcomed the deal.

A third of trade done through Hamburg’s harbour is now with China, while more than a third of that is handled by Cosco.

From Mr Aust’s point of view, the “much bigger danger” than Beijing using the terminal to exert political influence is a situation in which Hamburg loses business to Rotterdam or the Greek port of Piraeus, which lies completely in Coscos’s hands.

“That would be a heavy blow for the port of Hamburg,” he says.

Besides, the city has been careful not to hand the Chinese firm any meaningful control, Mr Aust says.

“No part of the port will be sold, nor any part of the logistics company, we are talking about the operator of a single terminal who has leased the ground from the city government,” he states.But China watchers say that the investment is another piece in the puzzle of Beijing’s long-term strategy of building market dominance in Europe.

“Beijing’s geo-political goal is one of influence,” says Jacob Gunter, a researcher at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.

“We saw this come out during the discussions about the port, where Cosco suggested it would take its business elsewhere if the deal wasn’t approved,” says Mr Gunther.And the comparison to Russian gas is an apt one, he continues.

“During the pandemic and now with the Ukraine war, we’ve all learned a lesson about how inflation is connected with energy and logistics. Both ports and pipelines are critical infrastructures that affect all other things.”

The HHLA and analysts are in agreement though that a solution to the company’s grip on Europe’s ports needs to be found at home.Mr Gunter says that the remedy to Europe’s harbours competing for Cosco’s affections lies in setting common standards across the EU to “prevent a race to the bottom”.

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Business

Super El Niño threatens to deepen Sri Lanka’s drought and economic woes

Published

11 hours ago

2026/09/4

Thilina Walpola

By Ifham Nizam

A potentially dangerous El Niño is gathering strength across the Pacific, with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warning that the climate event is expected to become very strong and continue into February 2027, raising the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and major disruptions to rainfall patterns worldwide.

The warning has particular significance for Sri Lanka, where communities in several agricultural districts are already facing severe drought, depleted water sources and shrinking farm incomes.

The WMO said yesterday that forecasts from its Global Producing Centres show an “exceptionally high likelihood of nearly 100%” that El Niño will persist through February next year. The organisation said this is the first time one of its El Niño/La Niña updates has been so unequivocal, reflecting strong agreement among forecasting systems.

The event, driven by exceptionally warm waters in the tropical Pacific, is expected to strengthen further in the coming months, reach very strong intensity and peak towards the end of this year. Its climate impacts, however, are expected to continue well into 2027.

According to Meteorological Organization

Sri Lanka is already experiencing the consequences.

A Reuters report published on Wednesday from drought-affected areas said rainfall deficits of between 85% and 100% have been recorded in important farming regions including Ampara and Monaragala.

Wells, tanks, rivers and lakes have dried up, while tens of thousands of people are depending on government water deliveries, with some remote communities reportedly waiting up to 23 days for supplies.

The drought is also rapidly becoming an economic problem for rural communities. Croplands have withered, livestock operations have been affected and farmers who have lost their harvests are being forced to seek daily-paid employment to survive.

The latest WMO outlook also warns that the consequences of El Niño will not necessarily be uniform. The severity and timing of impacts in individual countries depend on geography, season and other climate drivers, including conditions in the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

For Sri Lanka, the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) will therefore be crucial. The WMO expects a positive IOD to develop, with a September-November seasonal mean of about 0.9°C. This could modify the normal influence of El Niño on rainfall over the region.

That creates another potential risk for Sri Lanka: the country may have to prepare not only for continued drought but also for episodes of intense rainfall, flooding and landslides later in the year. Climate variability increasingly means that a prolonged water shortage can be followed by sudden and destructive rainfall rather than a gradual return to normal conditions.

For Sri Lanka, the warning should therefore be viewed as an economic and national-planning issue, not simply a meteorological forecast. Agriculture, drinking water, electricity generation, food imports, public expenditure and rural livelihoods could all be affected.

Business

ABC Trade & Investment – All-China Environment Federation partner to drive Sri Lanka’s green infrastructure and investment

Published

12 hours ago

2026/09/4

Thilina Walpola

ABC Trade & Investments (Pvt) Ltd, a leading homegrown conglomerate in Sri Lanka’s ICT distribution and diversified business landscape, has formally entered into a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the All-China Environment Federation (ACEF). The partnership establishes a collaborative framework aimed at accelerating new-energy development, water management, and environmental protection projects across Sri Lanka.

The agreement bridges advanced Chinese engineering capabilities, equipment, technical expertise, and investment resources with ABC Trade & Investments’ local operational strength, market insight, and project implementation skills. By pairing international technology with on-the-ground execution, the initiative is designed to address Sri Lanka’s long-term environmental and civil infrastructure priorities.

The MoU was signed by Amalrajah Jayaseelan, Director/CEO of ABC Trade & Investment (Pvt) Ltd, and Shi Xiang, Secretary-General of the Belt & Road Eco-Industry Cooperation Working Committee of ACEF. The signing took place during the China–Sri Lanka Environmental & Energy Exchange and Cooperation Meeting at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Grounds in Colombo, held under the theme “Empower Green Development, Jointly Build a New Pattern of China–Sri Lanka Environmental & Energy Industry.”

Business

Heavy buying interest slows down stock trading

Published

12 hours ago

2026/09/4

Thilina Walpola

By Hiran H. Senewiratne

The CSE yesterday was very active at the outset but later slowed down due to heavy buying interest noted for select stocks.Amid those developments both indices moved upwards. The S and P SL20 went up by 23.73 points. Turnover stood at Rs 2.44 billion with 10 crossings.

The crossings were: Renuka Foods 19 million shares crossed for Rs 502 million; its shares traded at Rs 25.30, Dipped Products 1.9 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 117 million; its shares traded at Rs 60.50, JKH 3.9 million shares crossed for Rs 78 million; its shares sold at Rs 19.70, Dialog Axiata 1 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 46.6 million; its shares traded at Rs 46.40, Tokyo Cement 500,000 shares crossed for Rs 39.5 million; its shares sold at Rs 79 and Watawela Plantations 800,000 shares crossed for Rs 34 million; its shares were Rs 42.50 each.

In the retail market companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Vallibel Finance Rs 281 million (3.3 million shares traded), Dipped Products Rs 114 million (1.9 million shares traded), Haycarb Rs 90 million (424,000 shares traded), Alumax Rs 42 million (2.6 million shares traded), HNB Rs 38.5 million (102,000 shares traded), Swisstec Rs 30 million (506,000 shares traded) and Sierra Cables Rs 34 million (880,000 shares traded). During the day 118 million share volumes changed hands in 17802 transactions.

It is said that mixed market reactions were noted during the day. Financial sector, especially Vallibel Finance, performed well, while the manufacturing sector, especially JKH and Hayleys , performed significantly.

Meanwhile, Co-operative Insurance Company announced the redemption of 1,100,000 cumulative redeemable preference shares issued in December 2020 to the Health Department Co-Operative Thrift & Credit Society.

The total redemption consideration of Rs 16.61 million, including a 9 percent per annum cumulative dividend, is set for settlement on August 31, 2026.

Yesterday the rupee was quoted at Rs 328.25/35 to the US dollar in the spot market, stronger from Rs 328.30/60 the previous day, while bond yields were somewhat steady, dealers said.