Goods handling in the ports declining

Goods handling at German seaports fell by 3.2 percent last year compared to 2021. A total of 279.1 million tons of goods were handled. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the receipt of goods from abroad (minus 1.5 percent) fell significantly less than the volume transported abroad (-7.0 percent). Cargo handling was 4.9 percent below the pre-crisis level of 2019, when German seaports handled 293.5 million tons of goods.

The most important port was Hamburg with a handling volume of 103.4 million tons (-7.2%), followed at a clear distance by Bremerhaven (42.8 million tons, -8.7%), Wilhelmshaven (31.8 million tons, +7.6%), Rostock (21.3 million tons, -3.2%) and Lübeck (16.4 million tons, -6.9%).

The most important partner countries in maritime trade in 2022 were Sweden with a goods handling volume of 24.4 million tons, followed by Norway (22.7 million tons), the United States (22.0 million tons) and the People’s Republic of China (20.9 million tons). ).

A total of 36.1 million tons of coal, crude oil and natural gas were imported via the German seaports, which was 13.9 percent more than in 2021. Almost a third (31.5 %) of the receipt of these fossil fuels was accounted for by coal and a good two third (67.6%) on crude oil. The most important supplier country was the United States, from whose ports 7.5 million tons and thus a good fifth (21.0%) of the quantity received came.

At 13.9 million TEU (20-foot container equivalent), container traffic in 2022 was 6.3 percent below the previous year’s value (14.8 million TEU), after having increased by 5.8 percent in 2021 compared to 2020. The pre-crisis level of 2019 was 15 million TEU. The reasons for this are likely to have been corona-related restrictions due to lockdowns, supply chain problems and congestion in container shipping. China accounted for over a fifth (21.5%) of German container throughput in 2022, followed by the United States with a share of just over a tenth (10.2%). Among the five most important foreign partner ports in container traffic in 2022, three were in China. (awm)