Port of Hamburg reported that 8.3 million TEUs crossed its quay walls during the last year, translating to a 5.1% decrease compared with 2021 box volumes.
"With Christmas coming, in the final quarter, we should normally see a rise in throughput totals. That failed to happen last year. The main reasons were high energy costs and inventories in the industry," explained Axel Mattern, Port of Hamburg Marketing’s CEO.
There was no such difference between the imports and exports of the major German port with the Port of Hamburg reporting 4.2 million import TEUs and 4.1 million export TEUs, dropping by 6.1% and 4.1%, respectively.
Additionally, the German port noted that there was a further increase in calls by megamax container vessels. "With capacities of over 18,000 TEU, vessels in the 'Megamax' class made 234 calls in Hamburg, or 6% more than last year," said the port in a statement, adding that "a 5% increase also occurred in calls by the second largest category – vessels between 14,000 and 17,999 TEUs."
In the meantime, Hamburg terminals handled a total of 119.9 million tons in 2022, which represents a 6.8% fall from the previous year.
“The war in Ukraine plus the related sanctions against Russia, along with worldwide supply chain problems caused by the corona pandemic, impacted Port of Hamburg throughput during the year. This was compounded by labour disputes in the port at the beginning of the second half of the year and very high inflation in the course of the autumn, which caused consumer spending to fall to a low point,” commented Axel Mattern.
