After the first semester of 2024 ended, PortEconomics member Theo Notteboom issued an analysis showing the year-on-year TEU growth in the top European container ports.
Overall, during the first six months of 2024, the top 15 European container ports handled almost 37 million TEUs, with a 5.4% increase compared to the first semester of 2023. The Port of Rotterdam remains the largest European container port (+2.4%), followed by Antwerp-Bruges (+3.9%) and Hamburg (-0,3%, more than offset by the sharp increase recorded by the port of Bremerhaven, +12,8%). HAROPA ports (Le Havre, Rouen, and Paris) container throughput increased by 16%, following a significant TEU dip in 2023.
Source: PortEconomics, 2024
Excluding Northern range ports, big shiftings are taking place within Mediterranean ports, especially after the Red Sea crisis. As the next table shows, since shipping liners are bypassing the Suez Canal in favour of routes around the Cape of Good Hope the ongoing disruption has severely impacted the port of Piraeus, which saw a 12.9% drop in container traffic. On the other side, a significant throughput increase is taking place in western Mediterranean ports like Valencia (+14.1%), Barcelona (+23.6%), and Sines (+25%). Positive figures also for the port of Gioia Tauro (+11.9%), still benefiting from the continuous growth of MSC.
|
Y-o-Y Growth H1 2024 |
|
| Piraeus |
-12,9% |
| Valencia |
14,2% |
| Algeciras |
2,7% |
| Gioia Tauro |
11,9% |
| Barcelona |
23,6% |
|
Marsaxlokk |
6,0% |
| Ports of Genoa |
-1.3% |
|
Sines |
25,0% |
According to PortEconomics, before the end of 2024, the port of Valencia is expected to overtake Piraeus to become the fourth largest EU port 2024 but also Algeciras and Bremerhaven might overtake the Greek transhipment hub, pushing it to position 7, closely followed by Barcelona.
Finally, the recent study underlined the significant volatility that is taking place in recent years, as various disruptions in the maritime chain have led to much more extreme fluctuations, making it difficult to identify a clear trend. For instance, it looks clear that “once the Red Sea crisis is resolved, container traffic may shift back to the Eastern Mediterranean, potentially leading to negative growth rates in the Western Mediterranean,” Notteboom concluded.
