Gloomy picture ahead at North Europe box ports as 'shopping frenzy' ends

North Europe’s container hub ports are bracing themselves for the weak January import volumes from Asia to continue through the year.

“The signals from our import customers are clear – the big shopping frenzy is over,” said Elvir Dzanic, CEO of Gothenburg Port Authority.

“Consumer goods, such as clothing, home electronics and so on, are areas where we’re seeing falling import volumes in general.

“We saw clear indications towards the end of 2022, and the initial trend in 2023 suggests a further decline, as product owners have full warehouses and are seeing lower demand, resulting in reduced transport requirements,” he added.

The bearish outlook from Mr Dzanic came after a strong performance last year by the Swedish port, the largest in Scandinavia.

Full-year container throughput at Gothenburg’s terminals increased 7% over 2021, to 885,000 teu, including a healthy 8% year-on-year increase in Q4, to 230,000 teu.

But the spike in the final period seems likely to be followed by some soft quarters, as ocean carriers are obliged to blank a high percentage of their advertised sailings from Asia to North Europe, due to very weak demand.

Indeed, speaking on the next podcast, CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing Axel Mattern says he does not expect a pick-up in import volumes at Hamburg container terminals for the duration of the year.

In fact, Mr Mattern says, the port is anticipating “a significant drop in handling cargo” this year.

All the container ports in North Europe are experiencing lower volumes from fewer calls, which has reduced vessel wait times to virtually zero. One port executive told last week bad weather was now the only cause of delays to ship work.