Participation in the container terminal: Cosco calls for a showdown in the HHLA dispute with Habeck

Enlarge image

Object of desire: The Chinese shipping company Cosco wants to take a 35 percent stake in the

in the Port of Hamburg

Photo: Markus Scholz/dpa

The Chinese shipping company Cosco is increasing the pressure on the federal government in the dispute over participation in a terminal in the port of Hamburg.

Cosco has extended the so-called

until December 31, as the shipping giant explained in a mandatory announcement to its shareholders.

Certain closing conditions have not yet been met, but Cosco intends to continue working towards closing the transaction.

In the case of planned company participations, it is quite common to agree on a date by which the companies have to have clarified open questions and fulfilled their obligations.

This gives the respective shareholders a certain amount of security as to when a deal should be completed - or just burst.

Cosco and the port operator HHLA (Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG) announced in September 2021 that the largest Chinese shipping company wanted to take a 35 percent stake in the HHLA subsidiary Hamburger Containerterminal Tollerort (CTT).

The CTT is one of three HHLA terminals in Germany's most important port.

It is probably about an amount of around 65 million euros.

HHLA boss

(56) hopes that the entry will secure jobs in the long term.

After all, the shipping company wants to call at the Hamburg terminal as a priority – a competitive advantage in the competition with the leading European ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp.

But the project is met with strong reservations from the federal government, as manager magazin reported exclusively in August.

(53; Greens) apparently fears

that the participation could create further dependencies on China and its authoritarian government.

Although HHLA is listed on the stock exchange, it is 69 percent owned by the city state of Hamburg.

This constellation makes it impossible for the Berlin coalition partners to take a less strict look at the deal.

Nothing will come of the entry without political approval.

"No objective concerns about the entry"

In view of the delays in Germany, Cosco, as a group listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, was now forced to act.

Since the Chinese are still interested in entering the market, they have now extended the

.

In this way they keep the chance of getting a political go from Berlin after all.

And increase the pressure at the same time.

If Cosco had let the previous deadline expire, the deal would have collapsed, possibly without the federal government having officially banned it by then.

The traffic light coalition would have avoided a direct affront with China.

And the shipping company could have argued that not all permits were technically available.

But Cosco apparently wants to carry out the transaction at any price - Economics Minister Habeck must probably comment on the entry.

This makes it difficult for all sides to save face in the end.

Cosco has not yet responded to inquiries from manager magzin.

HHLA remains convinced of the deal and is disappointed that the matter has become a political issue.

"There are still no objective concerns about Cosco's entry," explains HHLA spokesman

when asked by manager magazin.

In fact, it is common for shipping companies to have stakes in port facilities.

For example, the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is a co-owner of the Hamburg container terminal Altenwerder (CTA).

The Danish Maersk and the Swiss world market leader MSC hold shares in terminals in Bremerhaven, among other things.

However, with its worldwide investments in logistics facilities and transport routes ("new Silk Road"), China obviously not only combines economic interests, but is also deliberately building positions of power.

Scholz apparently in November in China

For HHLA, the previous situation has not changed as a result of Cosco's extension of the deadline.

"We are still in an investment law investigation, the outcome of which is open," said the spokesman.

HHLA will continue to lobby the federal government for approval.

It would be desirable if one of the top politicians, whether it was Economics Minister Habeck or Foreign Minister

(41; Greens), spoke directly to HHLA boss

(56).

That has not yet happened.

With the postponement, Cosco's entry into the HHLA subsidiary could now even be the subject of a possible meeting between Chancellor

(64; SPD) and China's President

(69).

As the "South China Morning Post" reports, Scholz is expected to visit Xi in November.

Chinese diplomats are currently preparing a corresponding meeting.

It would be the first trip by a German head of government to China in three years.

The federal government has not yet confirmed the meeting.

A government spokesman points out that the Federal Chancellor's appointments are generally announced in good time, usually on the Friday of the previous week.

It remains to be seen that this level will involve a stake in a terminal in the Port of Hamburg.

The Cosco dispute is always politically explosive.