Brighter times for Volvo and Saab good news for Gothenburg's port.

• Swedish port workers goes on strike

Activity has been low at the Port of Gothenburg, the largest port in the Nordic region, during the global downturn as demand dried up. But Swedish and global economic recovery was reflected clearly in the port operator's mid-year figures.

During the first half of the year the company reported a notable upswing in both containers and roll-on/roll-off units. The largest increase – almost 70 per cent - was noted in the car segment. Since the turn of the year almost 116,000 vehicles were handled at the Port of Gothenburg.

Gothenburg-based Volvo Cars – that has been bought by China’s Geely from Ford Motors – has been struggling with weak sales during 2008 and 2009, but bounced back 20 percent this year as the global economy picked up again. Saab’s sales plunged almost 60 percent last year. But the carmaker’s new owner, Dutch sports carmaker Spyker, believes Saab will sell at least 120,000 units a year by 2012.

Also truck makers Volvo and Scania have reported unexpectedly strong second-quarter results as new orders for trucks and buses swells.

"If growth were to continue at the same rate the full-year volumes for 2009 will already be achieved during the third quarter", Magnus Kårestedt, chief executive of the Port of Gothenburg Port Authority, said.

Some 90 percent of Sweden’s trade with other countries is transported by sea and the ports have since the dawn of the industrial revolution been a mirror of the Swedish industry’s wellbeing. If activity is high in the ports, trade is doing fine – and the other way around.

Figures from the Transport Group, an umbrella organisation for associations and companies in the transportation sector in Sweden, showed an "unusual level of optimism" during the first half of 2010, following increased volumes.