The Port of Hamburg reported growth in container throughput last year despite numerous geopolitical and economic challenges.

In 2024, international trade was impacted by both the war in Ukraine and the conflicts in the Middle East, fuelling uncertainty in global markets. In Germany, economic output declined by 0.2%. Industrial production also experienced a year-on-year drop of 4.5%.

Port of Hamburg said it handled 7.8 million TEUs last year, up by 0.9% compared to 2023. 

"The positive trend in container traffic with the USA continued in 2024, while container throughput with China recovered," it said.

For the period, loaded containers, which are particularly important for the value chain, accounted for approximately 87% of this volume. Throughput in this segment increased by 1.2% to 6.8 million TEU. 

 
"The annual result highlights the Port of Hamburg's resilience in a challenging market environment. Most notably, the high proportion of loaded container throughput indicates that shippers regard the port as a reliable partner and a strong link in the global logistics chain," said analyses Axel Mattern, member of the Executive Board at Port of Hamburg Marketing (HHM).

He noted that the port's hinterland transport had a successful year.
 
Overall, the Port of Hamburg handled 78.7 million tonnes of general cargo, the majority of which (77.5 million tonnes) were in containers. Conventional general cargo throughput increased to 1.3 million tonnes (+8.7%). 

China remains as Hamburg's top trading partner
 
Port of Hamburg said trade with China grew by 0.7% to 2.2 million TEU last year. As a result, the country has remained Hamburg's most important trading partner, ahead of the U.S., which set a new record with 685,000 TEU, marking a 5.0% increase.

India, an emerging market, also showed a positive growth of 2.1% to 195,000 TEU. Furthermore, throughput with Sri Lanka – the largest transshipment hub for the Indian subcontinent – rose to 140,000 TEU (+12.4%).  
 
The total number of ship calls with capacity for container cargo at the Port of Hamburg also rose by 0.3% compared to the previous year.

"The security situation in the Red Sea continues to shape global freight shipping. Longer transit times are leading to route changes and vessel diversions. As a result, fewer Megamax ships, which are primarily used for transport through this maritime region, have called at Hamburg," the port said in the announcement.

It added that at the same time, per-call throughput volumes at the Port of Hamburg increased significantly.

Container vessels in the Megamax class, therefore, handled well over 10,000 TEU on average. This corresponds to an increase of more than 20 percent.  
 
Meanwhile, the port noted that with a volume of 5.2 million TEU, hinterland traffic at the Port of Hamburg moved more goods than in 2023.

Transhipment reached a volume of 2.6 million TEU. In terms of tonnage, hinterland transport accounted for 83.1 million tonnes and transshipment for 28.7 million tonnes.  

 
It said that rail is particularly noteworthy in the modal split, moving 46.2 million tonnes (up 1.3% year-on-year) and 2.6 million TEU (up 2.5%) in 2024.

"Indeed, rail once again surpassed the 50 percent mark, holding a 50.2% share of container transport. This good result is also due to high capacity utilization in container trains."

Rail also gained ground in the tonnage-based modal split. At 55.6 percent, the share moved by rail was 2.1 percentage points higher than in 2023.

"The result underlines our position as the largest rail port in Europe and consolidates our market leadership", Mattern added.

Volatility, slow growth forecast to persist 
 
Looking ahead, Port of Hamburg said the global situation is expected to remain highly volatile for the foreseeable future due to the large number of international crises.

At the same time, the German government has forecast just 0.3% growth for the German economy.

"This will continue to influence the throughput figures at the port. However, several new liner services, announced by the Port of Hamburg in early 2025, signal positive developments ahead," the port said.

For example, it noted that February saw the launch of a North and South America service by shipping lines CMA CGM and ONE, along with an India service operated by the Gemini Cooperation.