The Port of Hamburg and neighboring Austria handled a surprisingly high volume of freight traffic. With a container throughput of 320,776 TEU (20-foot equivalent units) and an increase of 6.46 percent compared to the previous year, a new record was set in 2021.
“Both generally strong demand for export goods and stable imports ensured positive development despite the coronavirus pandemic. 2022 has also gotten off to a good start,” says Alexander Till, Head of the Austrian Representative Office of Port of Hamburg Marketing (HHM) in Vienna. “Since the beginning of containerization in the 1970s, Hamburg has been the most important port for Austria without interruption.”
Even more impressive was the result for total cargo throughput. With an increase of 26.74 percent compared to 2020, this figure reached 5.6 million tons. Products from Austria primarily included wood, paper, beverages, fittings, machinery, and equipment. At the same time, Austria mainly imported merchandise, furniture, building materials, sporting goods, and bulk commodities such as coal and iron ore. "Since 2019, the company VOEST has been regularly importing iron ore and coal via Hamburg again. In 2021, this amounted to 2.3 million freight tons. This is an important business in this sector for the Port of Hamburg," said Till.
Austrian companies particularly benefit from the extensive network of over 100 liner services serving approximately 1,000 seaports worldwide. They also profit from inland connections for pre- and post-carriage. "No other port offers such favorable conditions for Austrian industry." Rail transport is dominant, handling 98 percent of Austria's container volume to and from Hamburg. The Hanseatic city is also the leading destination for ÖBB's container trains.
Thanks to the well-developed rail network to Hamburg, trains can operate with maximum permissible length and weight. This makes the freight rate per container exceptionally low. In 2021, there were 160 block train connections per week linking Austria with Hamburg.
Trade and political relations between Austria and Hamburg date back centuries. The first Austrian consulate opened in Hamburg as early as 1570. In 1951, the Port of Hamburg opened its first representative office worldwide in Vienna. This year, after a pandemic-related hiatus, the representative office is planning four events in Austria, with a total of over 600 participants expected.
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