Gothenburg

TL;DR: Scandinavia's largest container port and Sweden's default China gateway — a Kattegat west-coast port that feeds the Swedish market and Norway, with the east-coast Stockholm/Norvik alternative behind it.

Key specifications

Throughput and draft figures are indicative and change year to year. Confirm current figures with the port authority before relying on them.

Hinterland

Sweden and the Nordic region — Gothenburg serves western Sweden and Norway, with rail to Stockholm (~470 km) covering the eastern market.

What most guides skip

Gothenburg is the gate you cannot fully replace for Sweden: it handles roughly a third of the country's foreign trade and is the only Swedish port deep enough for the mainline container services that China cargo needs. The trade-off is that Sweden's largest consumer market is Stockholm, ~470 km to the east — so the port is not the destination, and the inland rail leg decides the true landed cost, just as it does for landlocked neighbours. China mainline calls are thinner than at Rotterdam or Hamburg, so much cargo transships via a northern-range hub before the feeder north; price that extra move explicitly.

Key takeaways

1. Scandinavia's largest container port; handles roughly a third of Sweden's foreign trade.
2. The only Swedish port with mainline deep-sea container capacity.
3. Stockholm, the biggest market, sits ~470 km east — budget the inland rail.
4. Direct China calls are thinner than the northern range; transshipment is common.

Port facts are indicative and change over time. Always confirm current operational details with the relevant port authority before making commercial decisions.