Port of Hamburg sees cargo growth thanks to mega-vessels, trade agreements

The German seaport handled 6.8 million TEUs and has seen a 87.8 percent increase in mega-vessels during the first nine months of 2017, despite dredging issues on the Elbe fairway.    The Port of Hamburg handled 6.8 million TEUs of containerized cargo and 104.3 million tons of general and bulk cargo for the first nine months of 2017 as more and more mega-vessels have begun calling the German port.
   Container throughput grew 0.4 percent, while bulk cargo throughput remained just below the numbers recorded for the same period in 2016, according to data from the port. Of the 6.8 million TEUs handled at the port, 3.5 million TEUs were import containers – up 0.7 percent – and 3.2 million TEUs were export containers – up 0.1 percent. 
   Loaded boxes increased 1.2 percent to 5.8 million TEUs and empty containers dropped 4.3 percent to 924,000 TEUs. Compared to other major Northern European ports, Hamburg’s empty boxes are 13.7 percent lower while loaded containers are 86.3 percent higher, the port said.
   According to Axel Mattern, the joint CEO of Port of Hamburg marketing, said the “not yet implemented dredging of the Elbe fairway as one reason for the downturn in empty box handling. Market research by Port of Hamburg Marketing indicates that restrictions on the Elbe applying to Hamburg plus limited tidal ‘windows’ are causing shipping companies are to use available slot space on their mega-containerships for loaded boxes as a matter of priority. Empty containers are increasingly being routed via other ports in Northern Europe.”
   Despite the lack of dredging, Hamburg still saw an increase in mega-vessels during the first nine months of 2017, with vessels with a capacity between 14,000 and 17,999 TEU increasing by 36.9 percent and even larger vessels of 18,000-20,000+ TEUs increasing by 87.8 percent. “Adjustment of the fairway is essential for Hamburg and should at last be put into effect. Higher draft and improved opportunities for passing on the Elbe will offer increased safety and flexibility for traffic control on the Elbe, also producing tremendous advantages for merchant shipping. Mega-containerships will be able to bring/take away an additional 1,600 and more containers (TEU) per call to/from Hamburg,” said Ingo Egloff, joint CEO of Port of Hamburg marketing
   Regarding international throughout, the port said that container traffic to China grew 2.5 percent to 2 million TEUs while Baltic trade increased 2.8 percent to 1.4 million TEUs. Container services from Hamburg to the great European area was up 1.6 percent to 2 million TEUs, but the port saw even more growth in traffic to Vietnam (a 62.6 percent increase to 52,500 TEUs), Chile (a 43.4 percent increase to 57,500 TEUs), Mexico (a 22.7 percent increase to 68,000 TEUs) and Israel (a 25.5 percent increase to 57,000 TEUs). 
   Hamburg is also seeing container cargo grow due to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada. Once ratified by the parliaments of EU countries, CETA will simplify foreign trade, the Port of Hamburg said. “Customs dues will be scrapped on 98 percent of goods traded, and import and export restrictions will very largely be discarded. Alignment of industry standards through standard regulations for many goods will also make trading simpler,” the port said. “With trade volume put at around 64 billion euros, Canada is among the EU’s Top Ten trading partners and Canada takes 13th place among the Port of Hamburg’s trading partners for container transport. In the first nine months, 144,000 TEU (up 20.5 percent) were handled in container traffic with Canada.”
   Bulk cargo throughput was basically stable, being down one percent at 34.1 million tons in the first nine months with liquid cargoes that were 8.1 percent lower at 7.4 million tons.
   In the rail sector, Hamburg saw a 2.9 percent decrease, or 34.4 million tons, during the first nine months of 2017, with a 2 percent decrease in railborn container transport. The third quarter, however, recorded an 8.8 percent increase compared to the quarter prior, at 611,000 TEUs. “The record figure for the third quarter underlines Hamburg’s efficiency in environmentally-friendly railborne container transport. Up to 220 freight trains with up to 5,900 wagons are cleared daily in the Port of Hamburg. Around eleven percent of total German rail freight traffic originates or terminates in the Port of Hamburg,” said Egloff.