For the Port of Hamburg, the year 2024 was marked by numerous geopolitical and economic challenges. 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%.
Despite these challenges, the Port of Hamburg once again reported growth in container throughput. The positive trend in container traffic with the USA continued in 2024, while container throughput with China recovered.
Overall, the Port of Hamburg handled 78.7mt (million tonnes) of general cargo, the majority of which (77.5mt) was in containers. Conventional general cargo throughput increased to 1.3mt (+8.7%).
Nowhere is the energy transition more evident than in the figures for bulk cargo throughput. The decline in the use of fossil fuels affected the throughput result. Companies in the port industry imported 3.8mt of coal, 2.1% less than in the previous year. Throughput of mineral oil products totalled 5.7mt, a decline of 21.7%. This drop is partly due to exceptionally high throughput in 2023. In addition, lower demand due to weaker economic performance and mild temperatures led to lower imports in 2024.
Throughput of bulk goods totalled 33.1mt. This corresponds to a decline of 8.6 percent compared to the previous year. Of particular note are the 5.6% increase in imports of oilseed crops to 3.2mt and the 9.4% increase in exports of animal feed to 1.4mt.
As a result, the total volume of goods handled at the port stood at 111.8mt, 2.1% less than the previous year.
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. For example, 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.
