Up by 6.1 percent at 102.7 million tons, general cargo throughput was outstanding. A 1.7 percent increase in bulk cargo throughput to 43.0 million tons also contributed to the new record for Germany’s largest universal port. “Internationally, Hamburg belongs in the Champions League of world ports, achieving above-average growth compared to its European competitors,” said Axel Mattern of Port of Hamburg Marketing (HHM)’s Executive Board in presenting the port’s results. “I am very pleased with the annual result. It shows how important it is to develop and implement intelligent solutions for the port. With our smartPORT strategy, we are set on precisely the right course for the future of the Port of Hamburg,” says Jens Meier, CEO of Hamburg Port Authority.
At 9.7 million TEU (20-ft standard containers), Hamburg’s container throughput achieved a gain of 5.1 percent, above average for ports in Northern Europe while remaining just below a fresh record 10 million TEU mark that is now the aim for 2015. Strong growth in
container throughput is primarily attributable to a 9.8 percent jump in container services with China. With around 3.0 million TEU, the Middle Kingdom is Hamburg’s most significant partner for container transport. Among Hamburg’s Top Ten trading partners, Poland with 395,000 TEU (up by 22.6 percent) and India with 232,000 TEU (up by 14.9 percent) both posted fresh throughput records for container traffic. Overall, the development of trans-shipment services in the Baltic region, that in 2014 only reached slight
growth of 0.5 percent, was affected by the anticipated downturn in container traffic with Russia. Hamburg’s second largest market partner on container services may have held its place. However, the weakness of the rouble and the repercussions of trade sanctions meant that throughput in 2014 did not exceed 662,000 TEU (down 7.8 percent). “In 2014 Hamburg’s feat of boosting container throughput by 5.1 percent meant that it did extremely well by comparison with its European competitors. Hamburg is gaining market share in this segment. Average container throughput in the major ports of Northern Europe was up by 4.2 percent. Hamburg has thus consolidated its position as Europe’s second largest container port. In the worldwide ranking of container ports, Hamburg remains in 15th place,” explained Axel Mattern. Mattern also pointed out that in handling 8.5 million TEU of loaded containers (up by 5.5 percent), Hamburg has been able to report an additional record in 2014. At 87.0 percent, of Europe’s major container ports Hamburg achieved the highest proportion of loaded boxes in its throughput totals.
Throughput of non-containerised general cargo reached 2.0 million tons (up by 3.8 percent) in 2014. Growth was fuelled by exports of iron, steel, paper and timber, and a notable 19.6 percent increase in imports of tropical fruit that reached 188,000 tons.
In 2014 bulk cargo throughput rose by 1.7 percent to a total of 43.0 million tons, contributing with a share of 29.5 percent of total throughput to the Port of Hamburg’s excellent result on the year. Suction cargo at 8.2 million tons (up by 1.5 percent) and grab cargo at 20.4 million tons (up by 3.5 percent) helped to produce a fresh rise in throughput of seaborne cargoes in 2014. Growth was powered mainly by coal imports at 6.1 million tons (up by 6.9 percent) and ore imports at 9.9 million tons (up by 4.4 percent). The positive development of throughput in the suction cargo segment was attributable to grain handling, rising by 6.7 percent to reach 3.7 million tons. Grain was exported to North and West Africa in growing quantities. Throughput in the liquid cargo segment totalled 14.4 million tons (down 0.8 percent), just failing to match the previous year’s good figure. Apart from lower imports of crude oil, the downturn here was caused by slight falls in imports of palm and soya oil as well as chemical products, and restructuring at a leading Hamburg refinery. So 12.8 percent growth in exports to 4.5 million tons was not sufficient to offset decreases in liquid cargo imports.
For 2015 the Port of Hamburg’s marketing organization reckons with a further climb in throughput of seaborne cargoes. By the end of the year the total could reach 149.0 million tons, with the 10 million TEU mark achieved for containers. Further growth in seaborne foreign trade with core markets is however essential for achievement of these figures.