The sea cargo in the Port of Hamburg stabilized and grew to 70.2 million metric tons in the first-half of 2016. The freight and cargo transport by rail to and from the Port of Hamburg increased markedly during the same period.
In the first half of 2016 the total seaborne cargo, which includes general and bulk cargo, is with 70.2 million metric tons slightly lower (0.9%) compared to the previous year. In the first six months of 2016 the container cargo was 4.5 million TEU (TEU are 20-ft standard containers), which corresponds to a decrease of 1.2%.
“In the first half of 2016 the handling of seaborne cargo in the Port of Hamburg might have shown a slight decrease, but it noticeably stabilized. The second quarter of 2016 showed an increase of 1.9% a clear upward trend compared to the first quarter of 2016,” said Axel Mattern, CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing Association.
This positive trend is also demonstrated through a comparison of Q2 of 2016 and 2015, which shows a growth of 0.7%. The increase in cargo transport by rail is also very satisfactory. Mattern: “In the first half of 2016 we have recorded an increase of 3.9%, the environmentally friendly rail freight reached 23.8 million metric tons, representing an increase of 3.9%. Hamburg continues to extend its position as the largest rail port in Europe.”
The handling of 4.5 million TEU in the first six months of 2016 is slightly lower than the handling in the previous year. However the collapse in container traffic with China and Russia has almost completely been brought to a standstill.
Despite the continued sanctions in foreign trade, 216,000 TEU have been shipped to Russia from the Port of Hamburg. That is an increase of 2.3%. Container traffic with China also developed steadily, with 1.0% just below the previous year’s number of 1.3 million TEU. An other satisfactory trend is the growing importance of the trade with India, which increased by 9.9% to 128,000 TEU and now occupies the eighth position in the ranking of Hamburg’s top trading partners for container handling.
Other positive trends are visible in the container traffic with Finland (up 4.3%), the USA (up 7.3%), the United Arab Emirates (up 14%) and the United Kingdom (up 13.1%). The main explanation for the 1.2% decrease in total container handling is the decrease in transhipment services to ports in Poland and Sweden. These ports are serviced now by more direct container shipment services. The decrease in container handling for Scandinavia is 5.6% and 5.7% for Poland and the Baltic states.
Bulk cargo handling in Hamburg reached 23.3 million metric tons, a decrease of 1.4%. The trends in import and export developed differently. During the first six months the import increased by 6.7% to 17.1 million metric tons. In the same period the bulk cargo handling for the export was 6.2 million metric tons, a decrease of 18.3%, and remained well below figures of the previous year. The growth in import is fuelled by suction cargo (a 25.6% rise to 2.2 million metric tons), and the liquid cargo segment (+20.8% to 5.5 million tons). The suction cargo increased mainly due to an increased import of oil crops (+28.8%, to 1.8 million metric tons). For liquid cargo, the import of oil products stood out, with an increase of 65.4% to 5.1 million metric tons. The closure of a large major refinery in Hamburg and a larger inland demand boosted the import of oil products. In total the liquid cargo segment increased with 6.5% to 7.2 million metric tons. Other bulk cargo remained, despite a 1.8% decrease in the first half of 2016, totaling 11.3 million tons the strongest segment in the Port of Hamburg. The import of coal and coke decreased with 3.7% (to 3.7 million metric tons) and ores decreased with 6.2% (5.0 million metric tons), all remained below the strong results of the previous year. A lower demand from power stations and the steel industry can be mentioned as the reason for lower import figures.
There are several reasons for the changed trends in the export of suction and liquid cargo. Together with harvest-related lower grain exports that were substantially lower (34.4%, 2.1 million metric tons) than in the previous year. The decrease in oil products (36.3%, 1.0 million metric tons) can be explained by the closure of the Hamburg refinery and cessation of the export of oil products from this refinery. The export of building materials and scrap together with 1.4 million metric tons (+ 2.5%) fertilizers produced a growth of 5.8% to 1.9 million metric tons.
Breakbulk cargo, for instance huge industrial plant elements and rolling cargo, remained with 815,000 tons (-6.9%) below the figures of the previous first half-year. The import was 273,000 metric tons (-5.6%) the increase in the import of wood, project cargo and citrus fruit couldn’t compensate the decreased import in paper, metal and vehicles.
Ingo Egloff and Axel Mattern, both CEOs of Port of Hamburg Marketing Association, especially mentioned the excellent development of the Port of Hamburg rail connections services at the press conference. During the first half of 2016, 23.8 million metric tons of freight was transported to and from of the Port of Hamburg by rail. This is an increase of 3.9%. Container transport by rail increased with a substantial 2.1% to 1.2 million TEU. “In the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030 essential projects for the Port of Hamburg have been included. One of the largest projects is the link between the A1 and A7 motorways also known as the southern lateral port motorway. If the port continues its expansion and wants remain competitive in a wide range of areas, not only the development of high quality access for freight transport by rail, road and waterway is necessary but also deep-dredge ship-navigable routes in the Elbe,” states Ingo Egloff.
The Port of Hamburg is Germany’s largest universal port and creates more than 155,000 jobs in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The port is a significant industrial location of immense importance for the entire German national economy with an added value of 21.8 billion Euros. In 2016, the Port of Hamburg marketing organization counts on a total seaborne cargo of 138 million metric tons and container handling of around 9 million TEU. This positive trend is confirmed by the figures of the second quarter.