The Port of Hamburg reported a 2.1% decline in throughput to 111.8 million tonnes in 2024, with an increase in bulk and container throughput and a decline in bulk cargo throughput.

The port said international trade has been affected by the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East. Germany's economic output fell by 0.2% in 2024, and industrial production fell by 4.5% year on year.

The German government's forecast for economic growth of 0.3 percent in 2025 will continue to weigh on the port's performance, and the global geopolitical situation is expected to remain highly volatile due to a large number of international crises, the port said.

Container throughput in 2024 increased by 0.9% to 7.8 million teu, of which about 87% were packed, and throughput increased by 1.2% year-on-year. Trade with China increased by 0.7% to 2.2 million TEUs, maintaining China's position as Hamburg's largest trading partner. The US, in second place, saw a larger increase in freight volume, reaching a record 685,000 teu, up 5.0%

The disruption of the Red Sea route resulted in a decrease in the number of very large container ships calling at the Port of Hamburg, although the throughput of very large container ships per call increased by more than 20% to more than 10,000 teu. Overall, container ship throughput of all sizes increased by 0.3% year-on-year.

Bulk cargo volumes were 33.1 million tonnes, down 8.6 per cent, with declines in liquid cargoes, agricultural bulk cargoes and grab cargoes reflecting reduced fossil fuel use, the port said. Coal imports fell 2.1 per cent to 3.8 million tonnes and mineral oil products fell 2.17 per cent to 5.7 million tonnes, reflecting mild weather, weak economic performance and "unusually high throughput" in 2023.

The port said the high points in the commodities segment were oilseed crop imports, which rose 5.6 percent to 3.2 million tons, and animal feed exports, which rose 9.4 percent to 1.4 million tons.

Hinterland traffic has increased year on year, with rail taking a larger share in both weight and teu, maintaining more than 50% of container traffic in the Port of Hamburg.