European ports affected by global problems in Q1
The first quarter of 2023 was not the best for the logistics industry. The major European ports, including the terminal in Hamburg, experienced a loss of momentum. In the first three months of the current year, transhipment fell by 10.2% to just over 28 million tonnes of cargo. Analysts point out that the dynamics of volume reduction have been observed for several years. Geopolitical conflicts, inflation and economic downturns, which are putting pressure on the global trade sector, are among the main factors behind the decline in port transhipments. In addition, there are still large inventories of products in storage.
Hamburg has seen a significant slowdown in 2023 compared to the beginning of 2022. The crisis has had a negative impact on transhipment volumes, even in such an important port. Other European terminals are also affected. These include Antwerp and Rotterdam.
Decrease in transhipment
The main reason for the decrease in transhipment was a drop in the number of containers (by almost 16%). In terms of TEUs, the decline was almost 17% or around 2 million TEUs. At the same time, the port reported growth in bulk goods, which increased by 5.4% to 9.3 million tonnes in the first quarter. Bulk goods showed a good result, growing by more than 12%. Crude oil increased by 27%. The main role in the oil situation was the rejection of products from the traditional European exporter, which was subject to record sanctions. Countries, therefore, established new supplies of crude oil from various regions. The port of Hamburg also saw an 11% increase in agricultural products.
At the Antwerp terminal, transhipments fell by 4.5% to around 68 million tonnes. Container arrivals decreased by 5.7% over the same period. A significant decline was recorded for general cargo, which fell by almost 20%. This was due to a drop in demand for metals and steel as a result of the global economic downturn.
Dry bulk also fell by 7.3%. The volume of fertilisers fell by 26%. However, coal transhipments almost tripled. Liquefied gas volumes rose by 23%. Antwerp leads the European ports in the transhipment of cars. Their number increased by 7.2% to 904 thousand units.
In the port of Rotterdam, the number of containers fell by 11.6%, with a total of 3.2 million TEUs handled. There was also a 14% drop in cargo from Asia. At the same time, the volume of bulk goods increased by 0.2% to around 18 million tonnes.
