Business partners and customers

In its relationships with business partners, HHLA strives for integrity, fairness, responsibility and sustainability. To minimise the risks that may occur at the start of and during business relationships, HHLA uses a Group-wide business partner screening system. The system facilitates the recurring risk-based analysis and assessment of business relationships and possible measures to reduce risks. Risk and opportunity management

Customer structure

The customer base in the Container segment consists mainly of shipping companies, rail companies and freight forwarders. Globally operating container shipping companies account for the largest share of revenue. In ship handling, HHLA’s container terminals work together with shipping companies on a generally neutral basis (multi-user principle) and offer a wide range of high-quality services. In the reporting year, HHLA’s customer base included all of the world’s top ten container shipping companies.

Investments in container terminals by shipping companies are widespread in the industry and standard practice. They aim to tie cargo volumes to the port over the long term, to optimise terminal capacity and to strengthen supply chains.

Shipping companies hold non-controlling interests in three HHLA terminals. The shipping company Hapag-Lloyd holds a non-controlling interest of 25.1 % in HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA). Since 2023, COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited (CSP) has held a 24.9 % stake in HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT). And the Grimaldi Group holds a 49 % stake in the multi-function terminal Unikai, which is attributed to the Logistics segment.

In November 2024, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the MSC Group formally concluded their joint participation in HHLA via Port of Hamburg Beteiligungsgesellschaft SE. According to this agreement, the City of Hamburg will hold a 50.1 % stake via HGV, while MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company Holding SA will indirectly hold up to 49.9 % via SAS Shipping Agencies Services S.à.r.l.. A business combination agreement safeguards the neutrality of the business model and thus the equal treatment of the HHLA Group’s customers. Significant events

Capacity breakdown by shipping line alliance

Far East–Europe as of 31.12.2024

In the Container segment, the three major shipping line alliances OCEAN Alliance, 2M and THE Alliance continued to dominate the East-West shipping market as customers during the reporting year. After the 2M partnership was terminated and Hapag-Lloyd left THE Alliance, however, new constellations are emerging in 2025.

While shipping companies Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are working together and operating jointly as the Gemini Cooperation, the remaining members of THE Alliance – ONE, HMM and Yang Ming – will form the new Premier Alliance. Both partnerships were launched in February 2025. MSC intends to operate its network alone. However, an agreement was signed with the Premier Alliance regarding the exchange of slots for certain services. This agreement came into effect with the launch of the new Premier Alliance network. Only the OCEAN Alliance remains unchanged. In February 2024, it extended its contract, which originally ran until 2027, ahead of schedule by a further five years until 2032.

Shipping companies have a long history of joining forces to create alliances. HHLA is therefore well equipped to deal with this development and will continue to handle shipments from all three alliances, as well as MSC, at the HHLA container terminals.

During the reporting year, new ship orders were significantly up on the previous year. By late November 2024, 3.8 million TEU of new ship capacity had already been ordered – more than twice as much as in the previous year. This makes 2024 the year with the second highest figure for ship orders after 2021. The majority of these orders stipulate dual fuel solutions. The entire container ship order book currently comprises just under 8.0 million TEU, with just over half of these being ships with a capacity of over 15,200 TEU, most of which will be used on Far East-Northern Europe routes.

Shipping companies and forwarders are also the main customers of the Intermodal segment. As one of the leading providers of intermodal services, HHLA’s rail subsidiary METRANS togteher with logistics provider Roland Spedition assume a neutral role in the intermodal market, which is characterised by an established number of public and private providers.

The services provided in the Logistics segment are aimed at various customer groups, ranging from steel companies and power plants (in the field of bulk cargo handling) to international operators of ports and other logistics centres (in the field of port consulting).

The Real Estate segment lets its office space and commercial premises to German and international clients from a variety of sectors: from logistics and trading companies to media, consulting and advertising agencies, fashion labels, hotels and restaurants, and companies in the creative sector.

Sales activities

As far as possible, all of HHLA’s sales activities follow the strategic approach of vertical integration, i.e. offering comprehensive transport and logistics services from a single source. This strategic approach is pursued by means of intensive, cross-segment dialogue between the sales organisations, joint customer visits and by attending events in the hinterland of seaports.

Revenue distribution by customer

at the Hamburg container terminals 2024

Sales activities in the Container segment are organised by means of key account management. The revenue share attributable to HHLA’s five most important customers at its Hamburg container terminals changed in the 2024 financial year to 78.4 % (previous year: 75.2 %). The revenue share attributable to the ten most important customers at the Hamburg terminals increased to 98.8 % (previous year: 95.7 %). HHLA has maintained commercial relationships with the majority of its most important customers for well over two decades. HHLA concludes multi-year framework contracts with its shipping customers that set out both the scope and the remuneration of services. As the usage volume for these services is not fixed, there is no order backlog in the traditional sense for the specific services provided by HHLA.

In the Intermodal and Logistics segments, sales activities are generally managed locally by the individual companies. As a rule, no framework agreements are concluded regarding transport services; instead, the current transport or service requirements are provided to order.

The Real Estate segment’s sales team offers potential clients and tenants a wide range of services for properties in its two main districts – Hamburg’s Speicherstadt historical warehouse district and the northern banks of the river Elbe/fish market area – as well as for logistics properties in the Port of Hamburg.