Sector development

Global container throughput decreased noticeably during the reporting period as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the latest estimates by Drewry, however, the 2.1 % decrease for the year as a whole was not as dramatic as feared midway through the year, when a significant decline in global throughput of 7.3 % had been forecast for 2020.

Development of container throughput by region

in %

 

2020

 

2019

World

 

- 2.1

 

2.1

Europe as a whole

 

- 4.6

 

3.0

North-West Europe

 

- 3.9

 

2.0

Scandinavia and the Baltic region

 

- 5.5

 

3.0

Western Mediterranean

 

- 6.4

 

0.8

Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea

 

- 3.9

 

6.7

Source: Drewry Maritime Research, December 2020

The weakening of throughput activity was observed in almost all shipping regions, albeit to different extents. By global comparison, Europe was hardest hit by the decline in throughput. The drop in container volume was most noticeable in the ports of the Western Mediterranean, as well as in the Scandinavian and Baltic ports.

Container throughput at Northern European ports

in million TEU

 

2020

 

2019

 

Change

Rotterdam

 

14.3

 

14.8

 

- 3.2 %

Antwerp

 

12.0

 

11.9

 

1.4 %

Hamburg

 

8.5

 

9.3

 

- 7.9 %

Bremen ports

 

4.8

 

4.9

 

- 1.8 %

Gdansk

 

n/a

 

2.1

 

n/a

Zeebrugge

 

1.8

 

1.7

 

10.3 %

Wilhelmshaven

 

0.4

 

0.6

 

- 33.8 %

Source: Port Authorities

The trend among the major container ports of the , as well as the largest ports of the Baltic Sea, was mixed. In the Port of Hamburg, the throughput volume fell by 7.9 % to 8.5 million in the reporting period (previous year: 9.3 million TEU). In Europe’s largest container port, Rotterdam, the number of containers handled fell by 3.2 % to 14.3 million TEU in the reporting period. By contrast, Antwerp’s container throughput in 2020 increased year-on-year by 1.4 %, despite the pandemic, thus exceeding the record level of 12 million for the first time. There was also growth in Zeebrugge with an increase in container throughput of over 10 % in the reporting period. By contrast, the JadeWeserPort in Wilhelmshaven was hit hard by the effects of the pandemic and throughput volume fell by around a third. For 2020, the Bremen ports reported a year-on-year decrease of 1.8 % to 4.8 million TEU (previous year: 4.9 million TEU). As of the editorial deadline for this Annual Report, the port of Gdansk had only reported container throughput for the first ten months of 2020, amounting of 1.6 million TEU.

Traffic in Germany by modes of transport

in %

 

2020

 

2019

Transport volumes

 

- 3.5

 

0.2

Road traffic

 

- 2.5

 

0.4

Railway traffic

 

- 10.6

 

- 3.9

Multi-modal traffic

 

- 3.8

 

- 3.4

Traffic performance

 

- 5.2

 

0.0

Road traffic

 

- 4.0

 

- 0.1

Railway traffic

 

- 8.8

 

- 2.8

Multi-modal traffic

 

- 3.2

 

- 0.2

Source: Floating medium-term forecast for freight and passenger transport on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Oktober 2020

According to the most recent estimates from October 2020 – when neither the recent scope nor the impact of the restrictions connected with the spread of coronavirus could have been fully foreseen – freight traffic across all modes in Germany is likely to see a significant decrease in 2020. Transport volumes are expected to be down by 3.5 % year-on-year, while the rise in traffic performance – transport volume multiplied by the distance travelled – is likely to decrease by as much as 5.2 %. Road transport volumes will be down by 2.5 % year-on-year. Traffic performance is set to drop even more dramatically with a year-on-year decline of 4.0 %. Rail transport volumes will fall strongly by 10.6 %. Likewise, traffic performance will also decline by 8.8 %. By contrast, transport is less affected by the pandemic than other freight traffic sectors. Volumes will be 3.8 % down and performance 3.2 % down on the previous year.

North range

The North European coast. In the broadest geographic sense, this is where all the international ports in Northern Europe from Le Havre to Hamburg can be found. The four largest ports are Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Antwerp.

TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit)

A TEU is a 20-foot standard container, used as a unit for measuring container volumes. A 20-foot standard container is 6.06 metres long, 2.44 metres wide and 2.59 metres high.

TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit)

A TEU is a 20-foot standard container, used as a unit for measuring container volumes. A 20-foot standard container is 6.06 metres long, 2.44 metres wide and 2.59 metres high.

Intermodal/Intermodal systems

Transportation via several modes of transport (water, rail, road) combining the specific advantages of the respective carriers.