The Port of Hamburg reported a drop in throughput of nearly 17 percent in the first quarter. Earlier, larger European port competitors Rotterdam (Rotterdam) and Antwerp (Antwerp) were affected by the loss of business in Russia, and their throughput both experienced negative growth.
Hamburg, Europe's third largest container port, handled 1.9 million TEUs in the first three months of 2023, down 16.9 percent.
Hamburg-based terminal operator Port of Hamburg Logistics (HHLA) also reported a significant drop in its first-quarter throughput. The throughput of the Hamburg terminal was 1.3 million million TEUs, down 15.9 percent year-on-year. HHLA chief executive Angela Titzrath said the weak container throughput in the first quarter was "to be expected".
Axel Mattern, chief executive of Hamburg Port Marketing, said that at the beginning of last year, Russia was Hamburg's fourth largest trading partner. However, due to continued geopolitical tensions, high inflation, German labor action, large warehouse inventories, and the reluctance of consumer countries to place new orders, a series of challenging factors affecting container handling operations have exacerbated the losses in Russia.
grim overall economic situation is reflected in the current throughput data of major European ports. Shipments in Hamburg fell 11.6 percent in the first quarter compared to Rotterdam (3.2 million TEUs) and Antwerp (31 million TEUs), while shipments in Antwerp fell 7 percent to 31 million TEUs.
Giant ship demand is rising
Although the Port of Hamburg's overall container throughput declined, it reported that the Port of Hamburg's trade in North America increased by 9.5 percent, with 152000 million TEUs passing through the Port of Hamburg's busy terminals in the first quarter, and China remaining the port's largest trading partner.
the main mode of transport for containers arriving or leaving Hamburg was by rail, the decline in freight traffic led to a 10.1 per cent drop in rail freight throughput to 635000 TEUs. The port's bulk cargo volume increased by 5.4 percent to 9.3 million tons.
While overall cargo volumes declined compared to the first quarter of last year, 67 vessels with a capacity of more than 18,000 TEU docked in Hamburg, an increase of 17.5 percent compared to 2022, as the trend of larger vessels deployed in the Asia-Nordic trade continued. Despite the challenging economic environment, Mattern said Hamburg's throughput "may recover".
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