Seaport Cargo Handling in Hamburg Recovers in 2021

The seaport cargo handling in the Port of Hamburg developed more positively than expected in 2021 after the previous year’s decline due to the Corona pandemic. The seaport cargo handling amounted to 128.7 million tons, representing an increase of around two percent compared to the first year of the Corona pandemic. The container handling reached 8.7 million TEU (20-foot standard containers), an increase of 2.2 percent.

(Hamburg) The rail freight traffic contributed to a record result in 2021. The Hamburg Port Railway was able to handle a transport volume of 48.5 million tons (+4.0 percent) last year. In container transport, a remarkable increase of eight percent was achieved with 2.79 million TEU. “Hamburg is impressively expanding its leading position as the world’s largest rail port. Despite ongoing challenges from the pandemic and disrupted transport chains, a new record result was achieved for environmentally friendly freight transport by rail,” says Ingo Egloff, CEO of Hafen Hamburg Marketing e.V. (HHM).

Additional container train connections and increasing transport in the medium-distance range up to 300 kilometers promoted growth on the rail. The modal split share of rail in container transport in Hamburg is now at 51.5 percent. The shift of freight transport to rail is exemplary in Hamburg, relieving the roads and protecting the environment. The truck share in Hamburg is decreasing and now stands at 46.1 percent. Inland shipping accounts for 2.4 percent of container transport to and from the Port of Hamburg.

Strong Growth in Container Transport on the New Silk Road

In addition to sea transport, an increasing number of containers are also being transported by rail between China and Hamburg. Hamburg is the leading starting and ending point in Germany for container transport by sea and for container train connections on the New Silk Road. “Even though the transport by rail currently takes about 20 days for the more than 12,000-kilometer route between China and Hamburg, the land route via the New Silk Road is faster than by sea. For time-sensitive goods, the container train connections between Hamburg and China thus offer an attractive transport alternative. Last year, around 160,000 TEU were transported by rail between Hamburg and more than 25 destinations in China. This is a strong increase of 51 percent. A total of more than 290 China train connections to and from Hamburg are marketed by various providers,” explains Axel Mattern, CEO of HHM.

The Seaport Cargo Handling in the Port of Hamburg in 2021

The globally noticeable effects of the Corona pandemic also influenced the handling and traffic development in Germany’s largest universal port in 2021. In the entire year of 2021, 128.7 million tons of seaport goods were loaded or unloaded at the terminals in the Port of Hamburg. This represents an increase of 1.9 percent compared to the previous year’s result. Both the general cargo handling, which recorded 88.9 million tons (+1.3 percent), and the bulk cargo handling with 39.8 million tons (+3.3 percent) contributed to this. In the container handling segment, a total of 8.7 million TEU were handled in Hamburg in 2021. Compared to the previous year, this is an increase of 2.2 percent.

Within the bulk segment, the handling of grab cargo developed positively with a total of 21.6 million tons, achieving an increase of 11.2 percent. This growth was primarily driven by the import of coal with 5.5 million tons (+15.9 percent) and ore with 10.5 million tons (+10.6 percent). In the agribulk sector, a total of 6.4 million tons of suction goods were handled in 2021. The decline of 14.7 percent is attributed to less handling of grain. In the liquid cargo segment, the handling in 2021 totaled 11.8 million tons (+1.7 percent). Increased exports of mineral oil products are primarily responsible for the slight increase in this otherwise very stable segment. “In addition to considering the quantities of goods handled in the port, it should also be noted that goods worth around 116 billion euros from German production are exported worldwide via the Port of Hamburg every year. The Port of Hamburg secures around 607,000 jobs in Germany,” says Egloff.

China, the USA, and Singapore Lead the Ranking List

In the container handling of the ten most important partner countries of the Port of Hamburg, the countries remained unchanged in positions one to six. The decline in container handling with China recorded in the previous year has been halted. In 2021, an increase of 5.5 percent was achieved with 2.6 million TEU. This solidifies China’s position as Hamburg’s most important trading partner by far. “We are very pleased that Hapag-Lloyd will connect the Port of Hamburg weekly with the southern Chinese terminal Dachan Bay, which belongs to the Port of Shenzhen, with the new China Germany Express (CGX) starting in April. This new container service will expand the total of 18 services connecting Hamburg with Chinese ports and strengthen Hamburg’s position as a leading China port,” says Mattern.

Among the other trading partners in container traffic, the ranking after China includes the USA (+4.5 percent), Singapore (+0.9 percent), Russia (-3.0 percent), Sweden (+7.5 percent), and the United Kingdom (-9.9 percent). Following in the top 10 overview of the Port of Hamburg are Poland in seventh place (+20.7 percent), South Korea in eighth place (-0.4 percent), Denmark in ninth place (+4.6 percent), and Brazil in tenth place (+3.2 percent).

Completed Fairway Adjustment

The completed fairway adjustment of the Lower and Outer Elbe brings advantages. The incoming and outgoing shipping now benefits from an increase in draft between 1.00 meter and 1.90 meters compared to the state before the fairway deepening, depending on the ship’s dimensions. For example, Megamax ships with a width of up to 62.50 meters or a length of 400 meters can now navigate the port with a draft of up to 13.10 meters, independent of the tide. Before the adjustment, it was only 11.40 meters. Tide-dependent, it is now 14.10 meters. Incoming, a draft of 15.40 meters is even possible, whereas it was previously only 13.60 meters.

“We thank our customers and partners for their trust in us and the Port of Hamburg during the long-term fairway adjustment project. Since the end of January this year, we can now – depending on the ship size – enable improvements in maximum drafts in tide-independent and tide-dependent traffic between 1.00 and 1.90 meters. This helps to strengthen the competitiveness of the Port of Hamburg,” says Jens Meier, CEO of the Hamburg Port Authority.

Another advantage is the now created possibility for better encounters of large ships. A meeting box has been built at Wedel over a length of eight kilometers. It allows ships with a combined width of less than 104 meters to pass each other. Additionally, the fairway between Wedel and the Störmündung has been widened from 300 meters to 320 meters. Here, ships with a combined width of less than 92 meters can now safely pass each other.

The two board members of Hafen Hamburg Marketing, Axel Mattern and Ingo Egloff, welcome the successfully completed fairway adjustment of the Elbe. “For shipping and our port customers from the economy, the improvements in accessibility to Germany’s largest universal port also bring the advantage of routing more cargo via Hamburg. Last year alone, 221 large container ships with a capacity of 18,000 to 24,000 TEU called at the Port of Hamburg. This is an increase of 16.9 percent and illustrates that the now completed fairway adjustment is of enormous importance for the safe and efficient traffic management on the Elbe. With efficient transport routes, smart logistics solutions, and an increasing use of low-emission energy sources and technology, we are on the right track towards sustainable growth,” says Mattern. On the land side, the environmentally friendly railway takes the main share in the transport of goods and connects the market regions in the hinterland quickly and reliably with the port.

Outlook for 2022

“The war in Ukraine will also impact the handling development of the Port of Hamburg. However, it is currently not possible to say to what extent the sanctions against Russia will influence the handling development. A realistic forecast for the current year cannot be made at this time, as the Corona pandemic could continue to affect seaborne foreign trade,” says Mattern. For the year 2022, the marketing organization of the Port of Hamburg hopes for a generally stable course in seaport cargo handling.

Photo: © HHM/Hasenpusch Produktion