Port of Hamburg reports drop in cargo throughput in first half 2015

Container throughput slipped 6.8 percent year-over-year in the first half of the year to 4.5 million TEUs, which resulted from the port”s sluggish trade with China and Russia, the weak ruble, a drop in oil prices and the economic recession.    The Port of Hamburg announced it handled 70.8 million tons of cargo in the first half of 2015, down 2.5 percent from the first half of 2014.
   The German port handled 38.9 million tons of imports and 31.9 million tons of exports, a year-over year drop of 2.7 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Total container throughput reached 4.5 million TEUs for the first half of 2015, a year-over-year drop of 6.8 percent.
   The port authority attributed the decline to weak foreign trade with its two leading partners, China and Russia. The port is a major transshipment hub for cargo to and from China and Russia, therefore, the downturn hit the port extremely hard. “In the first half of 2015 China’s total foreign trade shrank noticeably, by 6.9 percent. The weak trend in foreign trade was especially apparent in exports from China to Europe on account of the costlier yuan. During the first six months of the years the euro was on average 19 percent lower than the yuan, making purchase of Chinese goods costlier for European importers,” Port of Hamburg Marketing Chief Executive Officer Axel Mattern said in a statement.
   In addition, the weak ruble, a decline in oil prices and the economic recession also hindered container throughput.
   The port’s hinterland traffic rose 2.3 percent to 2.9 million TEUs. Container rail traffic stood at 1.16 million TEUs. “That is an advance of 6.4 percent and clearly shows that rail is capable of above-average growth in container transport,” Mattern said.
   Bulk cargo handling, which incorporates grab cargo, liquid cargo and agribulk, stood at 23.6 million tons, a year-over-year decline of 12.3 percent.
   Conventional general cargo was down 5.8 percent to 876,000 tons.
   Located between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, the Port of Hamburg encompasses 42 terminals and 320 berths. The German port covers an area of 7,399 hectares, of which 4,331 hectares are land area.