en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Port of Hamburg handled 56.1 million tonnes of cargo in the first half of 2026, down 3.1% compared with the same period last year. Container throughput reached 4 million TEU, down 3.8% year-on-year in TEU terms and 4% in tonnage terms. Ongoing terminal modernisation and reduced oil imports due to the Iran war were the main factors weighing on overall performance.

The terminal modernisation projects being advanced by Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), while beneficial to operational efficiency in the long term, compressed available terminal capacity in the second quarter, directly creating a throughput shortfall. Earlier, losses caused by adverse weather in January had been largely recovered by the end of the first quarter, after which structural headwinds began to emerge.

Performance across major trade routes diverged markedly. Trade volume with Singapore grew by 13.1%, with Finland by 24.7%, with India by 7.2%, and with Morocco by 4.7%.

Cargo throughput with the United States declined sharply, down 13.5% year-on-year; container handling with China and the United Kingdom also posted negative growth.

Bulk cargo segments together handled 15.9 million tonnes, down approximately 1.1% year-on-year. Among these, liquid bulk fell by 14%, mainly due to reduced oil imports, compounded by declining biodiesel throughput since April after the Iran conflict put pressure on global energy markets. Dry bulk, by contrast, grew by 4.2%, supported by significant increases in ore imports and grain exports.

Conventional general cargo totalled 535,000 tonnes, down 5%, primarily driven by reduced steel exports; however, the decline narrowed compared with the end of the first quarter.