The Port of Hamburg reports a 3.1% drop in cargo traffic in H1 2026, impacted by terminal upgrades and reduced petroleum imports.
The Port of Hamburg handled 56.1 million tons of cargo in the first half of 2026, a 3.1% decline from the same period last year, as ongoing terminal modernization and lower petroleum imports weighed on Germany's largest port, according to figures released by the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA).
The port had recovered much of the ground lost to severe January weather by the end of the first quarter. However, weaker performance across several cargo segments through June left the half-year balance below 2025 levels.
Container traffic totaled four million TEUs, down 3.8% year-on-year. Measured in tons, container volumes fell 4%. The HPA attributed part of the decline to modernization works that operator HHLA is carrying out at its facilities, which temporarily reduced terminal capacity but are intended to improve handling efficiency once completed.
Performance varied sharply by trade lane. Container traffic with Finland rose 24.7% and with Singapore 13.1%, while trade with India grew 7.2% and Morocco 4.7%. In contrast, volumes with the United States dropped 13.5%, one of the steepest declines among Hamburg's leading partners. Container movements tied to China and the United Kingdom also fell during the six-month period.
The bulk segment closed the half at 15.9 million tons, down 1.1%, with divergent trends between liquid and solid cargo. Liquid bulk fell 14%, while solid bulk rose 4.2%. The HPA linked the decline in liquid volumes to reduced imports of petroleum products, which it attributed to conditions in international energy markets stemming from the war in Iran. Biodiesel traffic has also declined since April.
Growth in ore imports and cereal exports partly offset those losses, limiting the overall decline in bulk to 1.1%.
Conventional general cargo reached 535,000 tons, a 5% decrease that the HPA linked mainly to lower steel product exports. The segment typically shows large swings because of the high value of the goods and the relatively small number of shipments, and the six-month drop was smaller than the decline recorded at the end of the first quarter.
