Intermodal segment

In the highly competitive market for container traffic in the hinterland of major seaports, HHLA’s transport companies only recorded a slight decline in volumes in 2020. Container transport decreased by 1.9 % to 1,536 thousand standard containers (TEU) (previous year: 1,565 thousand TEU). The decrease in road transport was much stronger than that of rail transportation, which declined year-on-year by just 1.0 % to 1,222 thousand TEU (previous year: 1,234 thousand TEU). The significant – and for certain routes dramatic – fall in maritime traffic from the North German seaports was largely offset by strong growth in continental traffic. Due to the strong recovery in transport volumes in the third quarter and a significant year-on-year increase in volume in the fourth quarter, the declines of the first half-year were almost fully offset on all routes. Road transport also recovered strongly in the third and fourth quarters compared with the preceding quarters. However, due to further weak growth in the Hamburg region and a challenging market environment, transport volumes for the year as a whole decreased by 5.2 % year-on-year to 314 thousand TEU (previous year: 331 thousand TEU).

Container transport

in thousand TEU

Revenue performed slightly worse than transport volumes with a decline of 2.1 % to € 476.8 million (previous year: € 486.9 million). Despite a slight increase in the rail share of HHLA’s total intermodal transportation from 78.8 % to 79.6 %, average revenue per TEU decreased as a result of changes to the structure of freight flows.

The operating result (EBIT) fell by 11.0 % to € 88.3 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 99.2 million). In addition to falling volumes and revenue, this strong decrease was mainly due to increased fluctuations in import and export cargo with a resulting fall in capacity utilisation of rail systems – particularly in the second quarter of 2020. At 18.5 %, the EBIT margin was just 1.9 percentage points below the prior-year figure (previous year: 20.4 %).

HHLA continues to invest as needed in the expansion of its intermodal network. The decrease in route prices for German rail freight applied in mid-2018 is bolstering the development of the intermodal service portfolio. HHLA’s rail subsidiary METRANS put seven new multi-system locomotives into operation during 2020. It now has approximately 110 shunters and locomotives, as well as a fleet of over 2,900 container wagons. The network consists of 16 terminals in the hinterland, of which five function as large hub terminals.