Port of Hamburg expects the market to "remain volatile" for the rest of the year as challenges continue to drag recovery in the shipping industry.

In its statement reporting its nine-month performance, Port of Hamburg — Europe's third busiest port — said supply chain disruptions have yet to normalise.

"Prompted by the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis has caused steep inflation in Germany and many European countries. This will also affect what is normally a very strong Christmas business," it said.

"At the same time, while bottlenecks off ports are shrinking, disruptions in supply chains have not yet all been eliminated."

Port of Hamburg added that the market will, therefore "remain volatile" for the remainder of the year — which could impact throughput at the port.

Lower bulk cargo throughput

In the first nine months of the year, the maritime industry in the Port of Hamburg handled 91.8 million tons of seaborne cargo, a 4.3% drop on the previous year.

"Also down 7.4% at 27.5 million tons, handling of bulk cargo was especially hard hit," Port of Hamburg said, adding that compared with the rest of Europe, container handling "held up well."

At 6.3 million TEU - 20-ft standard containers - for the Port of Hamburg the downturn was 2.7%.

By contrast, it added that conventional general cargo handling progressed especially well, with 1.1 million tons crossing the quay walls of Hamburg, 19.3% more than in the previous year.

"Causing long bottlenecks in ship traffic off Hamburg, among other ports, global supply chain disruptions were responsible for a fall in handling. In other European ports, the tendency had already become apparent in mid-year," said Axel Mattern, CEO of HHM - Port of Hamburg Marketing.

"Although we still performed well on a European comparison, in the third quarter global trends then hit the Port of Hamburg," Mattern added.

In comparison, container handling in Rotterdam dwindled by 4.4%, while Antwerp-Zeebrugge handled 5% fewer containers.

Cargo volumes decline

Compared to the first three quarters of the previous year, in 2022 general cargo slipped into deficit, according to Port of Hamburg, achieving a 2.9% lower total of 64.4 million tons as it pointed out to the 3.2% downturn in containerized general cargo.

By contrast, it added that the 1.1 million tons total for its conventional counterpart reflected a distinct gain of 19.3%.

"A close look at the container handling segment reveals the identical effect on both exports at 3.1 million TEU and imports at 3.2 million TEU. Both were 2.7% down on the previous year's level," Port of Hamburg said.

Of boxes handled, it added that those loaded remained in the lead.

"They were therefore the main cause of the overall downturn of 2.7%," the port added, noting that between January and September, 5.6 million loaded TEU, or 2.9% fewer, crossed the quay walls, whereas the empty box total of around 726,000 TEU was 1% lower.

Meanwhile, the port said throughput in the East Asia trade was 2.1% lower at 2.8 million TEU.

The Baltic region suffered a "striking downturn" according to the Port of Hamburg.

"Here sanctions against Russia hit hard, although throughput with other Baltic states increased. That was not due to any re-routing of cargoes, however," Mattern said.