Container segment

In the first quarter of 2026, container throughput decreased significantly year-on-year by 5.3 % to 1,462 thousand standard containers (TEU) (previous year: 1,544 thousand TEU). In addition to geopolitical challenges, processing and seaborne handling volumes were restricted in particular by the harsh winter conditions at the beginning of the year. Organisational measures helped to mitigate the effects but could not fully compensate for them.

Throughput volume at the Hamburg container terminals was 1,374 thousand TEU, down 6.6 % on the same period last year (previous year: 1,472 thousand TEU). This was primarily due to the weak start to the year as a result of the harsh winter, which negatively impacted all shipping regions. However, the situation largely stabilised over the course of the first quarter. A further issue was the development of individual shipping regions, which continued to be shaped by service and customer-related shifts as a result of changing alliances. For example, there was a decline in overseas traffic volumes in the shipping regions North America and the Far East, especially China. These effects were only partially offset by additional throughput volumes from the Australia and Middle East shipping regions, as well as from traffic with other European seaports – primarily Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Volumes for feeder traffic also decreased significantly year-on-year. In particular, traffic from Scandinavia, Lithuania and the United Kingdom dropped significantly. By contrast, cargo volumes from Germany and Poland were up. The proportion of seaborne handling by feeders was 19.3 % (previous year: 20.0 %).

Meanwhile, the international container terminals reported a strong rise in throughput volume of 21.5 % to 88 thousand TEU (previous year: 72 thousand TEU). In addition to the expected volume growth at HHLA PLT Italy, this was due in particular to increased seaborne handling at Container Terminal Odessa (CTO). By contrast, seaborne handling volumes at the multifunctional terminal HHLA TK Estonia decreased slightly.

Despite declining volumes, the Container segment’s revenue rose by 4.6 % in the reporting period to € 215.9 million (previous year: € 206.4 million) as a result of additional storage fees due to longer dwell times, as well as beneficial shifts in the modal split. The positive trend at HHLA’s international container terminals also contributed to the increase in revenue, driven by an overall improvement in the volume and revenue situation.

Compared to the first three months of the previous year, there was a net increase of 9.9 % in other operating income and expenses included in the operating result (together defined as EBIT costs). This development was partly driven by the significant rise in personnel expenses, mainly due to union-negotiated wage settlements and the additional deployment of employees from the GHB pool. Although productivity improved in March compared with the previous months, it still lagged behind the first quarter of 2025 due to the adverse weather conditions. Moreover, expenses for consultancy and services, as well as expenses for purchased and thirty-party services, particularly maintenance, were significantly above the prior-year level. Depreciation and amortisation also increased strongly, due in part to the purchase of new container gantry cranes and the capitalisation of the workshop at Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB). The ongoing measures to safeguard earnings at the Hamburg container terminals, as well as further effects from the extensive transformation processes within the Container segment, had an opposing effect. The cost of materials declined as a result of reduced volumes. Increased fuel costs due to the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East only had a noticeable impact from March onwards. As a result of the high level of electrification of our terminals, fuel costs only accounted for around 30 % of our energy expenses.

Burdened by the significant rise in expenses, the operating result (EBIT) decreased by 28.6 % to € 12.8 million (previous year: € 18.0 million). The EBIT margin fell by 2.8 percentage points to 5.9 % (previous year: 8.7 %).

In 2026, HHLA continues to invest in climate-friendly and state-of-the-art terminal technology to further enhance its efficiency and level of automation. A total of 19 battery-powered electric tractor units are now in use at Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) and preparations for the launch of a final Terberg tractor unit are currently underway. The required charging infrastructure is fully available, thus concluding the electrification of the hinterland fleet.

The automation of a rail gantry crane commenced as part of the IHATEC “Containerterminal 4.0” project is still in the testing and integration phase. The fifth rail gantry crane is slated to go into operation in the second quarter of 2026. In addition, the first batch of three new dual-trolley container gantry cranes will also be transferred to operations in April 2026. The assembly of the next three container gantry cranes is scheduled following the delivery of the second batch; the orders for the third and fourth batches have already been placed. The necessary dismantling of further ZPMC container gantry cranes is currently underway.

At CTB, work on blocks 28 and 29 of the warehouse crane system is continuing and tests on the new AGV area are ongoing. The workshop constructed as part of the AGV project is already in operation. Three new container gantry cranes for processing 24-thousand TEU vessels at berth 1/2 are in the procurement phase.

At Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT), an advance payment has been made for eight hybrid van carriers currently under construction. Their delivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter of the current financial year. Moreover, the expansion of handling areas for Airbus aircraft parts has now begun, thus increasing handling capacities for such general cargo goods.