Seaborne cargo throughput in the first quarter was 0.4% higher than in the same quarter of the previous year. Container throughput was up 1.8% on the same period of the previous year. After a slow start in the first two months, March brought a significant boost to container throughput. Bulk cargo throughput achieved an increase of 2.7%.

The ongoing global impact of the coronavirus pandemic continued to shape handling trends in the Port of Hamburg in the first quarter of 2021. "The month of March brought a clear turnaround in container throughput. Growth showed a strong increase of 9.4 percent compared to March 2020. From March onwards, we saw the ramp-up of many economic sectors, stronger consumer demand and a stabilization of the liner services calling at Hamburg. With 697,000 TEU handled by rail in seaport-hinterland traffic in the first quarter, we achieved a very good result with an increase of 5.1 percent," explains Axel Mattern, CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing e.V. (HHM).

Seaborne cargo throughput in the Port of Hamburg in the first quarter of 2021
In the first three months of the year, 32.1 million tons of seaborne cargo were loaded or unloaded at the terminals in the Port of Hamburg. This represents a slight increase of 0.4 percent compared to the previous year. At 22.4 million tons (-0.5 percent), general cargo throughput remained just below the previous year's result. Container throughput in Hamburg also showed an upward trend with a total of 2.2 million TEU (20-foot standard containers). Compared to the previous year, this represents an increase of 1.8 percent. "Imports and exports in container throughput developed very evenly. With 1.1 million TEU each, both imports and exports increased by 1.8%. The container trade lanes America, Asia, Africa and Australia/Pacific all saw positive handling trends. In European traffic, only transhipment handling with Scandinavian countries developed positively with an increase of 3.7%. Overall, European traffic still showed a decline of 4.0 percent in the first quarter," says Mattern. Bulk cargo handling increased by 2.7 percent to a total of 9.8 million tons. Within the bulk cargo segment, the handling of grab cargo developed very strongly with a total of 5.5 million tons, achieving an increase of 17 percent. The import of ore in particular contributed to this growth. At 2.7 million tons (+36.1 percent), this made a particularly large contribution to the very good result in the bulk goods segment. At 1.7 million tons (-19.1 percent) and 2.6 million tons (-5.5 percent), the handling performance in the suction cargo and liquid cargo segments remained below the previous year's result.

Varying development of Hamburg's top 10 partner countries in seaborne container throughput
Container throughput in the Port of Hamburg's ten most important trading partners developed very differently in the first three months of 2021. Seaborne container throughput with China, Hamburg's largest trading partner by far, increased by 16 percent to 672,000 TEU. The USA, Hamburg's No. 2, also remained on course for growth with 147,000 TEU (+0.7 percent). Other countries in the top 10 with a positive container throughput trend in the first three months were Sweden (+2.6 percent), Poland (+6.0 percent), Brazil (+9.8 percent) and Denmark (+3.2 percent). These pleasing developments in seaborne container throughput offset the declines with other countries in the first quarter. "Among Hamburg's top 10 trading partners in seaborne container traffic, six countries are already back on course for growth in the first quarter. Among the four countries with declines, we are seeing stabilization and a slight recovery. However, we believe that the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global transport and trade chains will gradually ease this year. Based on the current situation, 2021 will bring a return to growth for the Port of Hamburg. The first positive signs of a recovery in seaborne cargo throughput in the Port of Hamburg are clear from the handling results for the first quarter," explains Ingo Egloff, Axel Mattern's colleague on the Executive Board.

Meeting box and deeper fairway released
Another positive signal for the Port of Hamburg was sent out by the nautical services of Hamburg and the federal government with the first partial release of the new fairway depths and the meeting box at the beginning of May. In the first phase, ships will be able to utilize around half of the total draught improvements. The CMA CGM Jacques Saadé was the first container ship in the Megamax class to use the increased draught. With a length of 400 meters and a width of 61 meters, the LNG container ship is one of the vessels that can now utilize 90 centimetres more draught. The ship can therefore bring around 1000 more containers to Hamburg. "Since the release of the new fairway depths a few weeks ago, we have considerably more freedom in traffic flow planning due to the higher tide-independent draughts. In addition, the completion of the meeting box means that larger ships can now also meet safely and easily in oncoming traffic," says Jens Meier, CEO of the Hamburg Port Authority. "Once the second and final approval stage has been implemented in the second half of 2021, we will be able to fully utilize the draught improvements." Depending on the size class, ships will then be able to use up to 1.9 meters more draught. At the same time, it is already possible for ships with a combined width of up to 104 meters to meet in the box. It has been widened to 385 meters over a length of eight kilometers between Wedel and Blankenese.

Strong growth in container transport by rail
In the first three months, 697,000 TEU were transported on the tracks of the Hamburg port railroad. That is an increase of 5.1 percent. "We are very pleased that container transport by rail is back on course for growth in the Port of Hamburg's inbound and outbound traffic and has increased strongly. The fact that, at 11.8 million tons, the total volume of goods transported by rail only just fell short of the previous year's result does not dampen this joy. The main reason for the 0.9 percent drop is the decline in the transportation of liquid mineral oil," says Egloff. The Hamburg port railroad manages over 200 freight trains with more than 5,500 wagons every day on its efficient track network, which is around 300 kilometers long. On March 24, a new record was set for a single day in container traffic with 10,798 TEU. According to Ingo Egloff, the system has also proven to be reliable during the coronavirus pandemic. "In recent days and weeks, however, we have noticed that rail handling in the Port of Hamburg can also lead to temporary delays due to the large number of ship delays. Terminal operators and rail operators are trying to avoid bottlenecks in handling," adds Egloff. This has also made it possible to further improve the capacity utilization of container trains. In the first quarter, an average of 78.1 TEU per container train was achieved in March, the third-highest monthly figure to date. At 12.8%, the empty wagon ratio in container traffic was also at its lowest level since records began. In seaport-hinterland transport in the Port of Hamburg, the rail share of the modal split is also being increased through even better utilization of train paths and the equipment used. Last year, rail was already the leading mode of transport in landside transportation with a share of 50.7 percent.

Outlook for 2021
For 2021, the Port of Hamburg's marketing organization expects a more stable overall trend in seaborne cargo handling. With the resumption of suspended liner service departures and new services, a handling result of 130 million tons and 8.7 million TEU is achievable in a hopefully improving global situation.