PortGraphic: top15 container ports in Europe in the first three quarters 2020

By Theo Notteboom

The table shows the container throughput for the first 9 months of 2020 handled by the top 15 containers ports in Europe.

Antwerp is the only large gateway port in the top 15 which was able to reach a volume level comparable to last year. Mediterranean transhipment hub Gioia Tauro is recording strong growth (exact Q3 2020 figures were not in at the time of writing) as Terminal Investment Limited (TiL) became the full owner of Medcenter Container Terminal (MCT) in the Summer of 2019.

The vast majority of top 15 ports recorded negative growth figures, but large differences can be observed

The vast majority of top 15 ports recorded negative growth figures, but large differences can be observed. Algeciras recorded a very modest decline, while others saw their TEU throughput drop by double digits (i.e. Le Havre, Barcelona, Genoa and Hamburg). Cosco-owned Greek hub port of Piraeus and the port of Gdansk in Poland, two fast climbers in the European container port ranking, both record negative growth figures for the first time since many years. When comparing 9M 2020 growth figures to 2009 growth figures, it becomes clear the two crises had in many cases a very different impact on container throughput development in the top 15 ports in Europe.