Port of Hamburg box traffic slips by 9.3% in 2015

The fall-off in container throughput was said to be “primarily attributable to lower volumes handled with China, Russia and Poland” which together accounted for some 800,000 teu less than in 2014.

Container traffic with China was down 14.4% and with Russia by 34.4%, the port said in a statement, which “could not be offset in volume by growth in container traffic with other countries such as Malaysia, India, the UAE or Mexico.”

The decline in Polish container traffic was meanwhile explained by more direct calls at Gdansk rather than transhipment via Northern Range ports.

On the positive side, Port of Hamburg reported hinterland traffic up by 3.1% to 45.8m tons, with local container cargo amounting for roughly 30% of the box total and seaport-hinterland container transport growing by both rail (+2.8%) and inland waterway (+27.5%).

“Hamburg ids the European leader for containers transported by rail, and is the top rail port,” said a Port of Hamburg spokesman. ‘Among ports in Northern Europe, Hamburg’s share of containers transported by rail is around 50%, while Rotterdam’s is about 19% and Antwerp’s roughly 8%.”