Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (abbreviated HHLA), known until 2005 as ''Hamburger Hafen- und Lagerhaus-Aktiengesellschaft'', and prior to that as ''Hamburger Freihafen-Lagerhaus Gesellschaft'' (HFLG) since 1885, is a German

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

and

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

company specialising in port throughput and

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

and transport logistics.

Overview

HHLA's

core business Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (laboratory), a highly specialized shared research resource * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber ...

is divided into four business segments: *

Container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

* Intermodal *

Logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

* Real estate As of 31 December 2019, the company employed 6,296 people worldwide, and generated revenue of €1.38 billion. Shares in the Port Logistics subgroup ("Class A shares") have been listed since November 2007. Class A shares in HHLA were included in the

MDAX The MDAX is a stock index which lists German companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The index is calculated by . It includes the 50 Prime Standard shares that rank in size immediately below the companies included in the DAX index. T ...

from 2008 to 2013 before becoming part of the

SDAX The SDAX (German abbreviation for ''Small-Cap-deutsche Aktienindex'') is a stock market index composed of 70 small and medium-sized companies in Germany. These so-called 'Small cap company, small caps' rank directly below the MDAX (mid-cap) shar ...

in June 2013. The Real Estate subgroup covers the company's properties that are not specific to port handling, with its shares listed as "Class S". These cannot be freely traded and are entirely owned by the City of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. HHLA's administrative headquarters is known as the ''

Speicherstadtrathaus The Speicherstadtrathaus (English: ''Warehouse City Town Hall'') is the administration building of HHLA, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG. It is located in the historic warehouse complex of the Speicherstadt in the Port of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany ...

''.

Container

HHLA operates three of the four

container terminals A container port, container terminal, or intermodal terminal is a facility where Intermodal container, cargo containers are transshipment, transshipped between Intermodal freight transport, different transport vehicles, for onward transportati ...

in the

Port of Hamburg The Port of Hamburg (, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea. Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (), it is the country's largest seaport by volume. In terms of TEU throughput, Hambur ...

: *

Container Terminal Altenwerder The HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) in Hamburg, Germany, is a container handling terminal. It is located in the Altenwerder quarter. It is owned by Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) (74.9%) and Hapag-LLoyd AG shipping lines (25 ...

(CTA, operational since mid-2002) As of 2019, HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder CTA was almost completely automated. * ''Container Terminal Burchardkai'' (CTB) Container Terminal Burchardkai is the largest and oldest surviving container handling facility at the Port of Hamburg. * ''Container Terminal Tollerort'' (CTT) In 2019, about 7.6 million TEU were handled here (2018: 7.3 million TEU). As of 2018, the shipping company

Hapag-Lloyd Hapag-Lloyd AG is a German international shipping and container transportation company, the 5th biggest in the world. It was formed in 1970 through a merger of Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG) and Norddeutscher Lloyd. History The company was forme ...

owned a share of 25.1% in the terminal. In June 2018, HHLA acquired the largest Estonian terminal operator ''Transiidikeskuse AS'' (headquartered in Muuga). At the time, the container terminal had a handling capacity of approximately 300,000 TEU. HHLA's Container segment also includes a number of services related to container handling offered by its subsidiaries. As of 2019, HHLA also owned a container terminal at the

Port of Odesa The Port of Odesa or Odesa Commercial Seaport (), located near Odesa, is the largest Ukrainian seaport and one of the largest ports in the Black Sea basin, with a total annual traffic capacity of 40 million tonnes (15 million tonnes dry bulk and ...

Intermodal

This segment covers container transport by

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...

and

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

. The sector includes the transport company Metrans and road transport company ''Container-Transport-Dienst'' (CTD). ''Metrans'' operates container trains from its own terminals in the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and neighbouring countries; CTD covers the area surrounding the

Hamburg Metropolitan Region The Hamburg Metropolitan Region () is a metropolitan region centred around the city of Hamburg in northern Germany, consisting of eight districts () in the federal state of Lower Saxony, six districts () in the state of Schleswig-Holstein and two ...

by road. In 2012, HHLA sold its 50% share in ''TFG Transfracht'' to

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

, and in 2018, ''Polzug Intermodal'' merged with ''Metrans''. In 2019, the intermodal companies transported a total of 1.6 million standard containers by rail and road.

Logistics

This segment incorporates warehouse logistics and special handling, consulting, and various

Start-ups A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend to ...

. It includes a number of equity holdings and subsidiaries, including the consulting firm ''HPC Hamburg Port Consulting''. The fruit terminal at ''O'Swaldkai'' is also part of this segment. At the same port is a RoRo terminal handling rolling cargo (

RoRo Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...

). Together with

Salzgitter AG Salzgitter AG is a German company, one of the largest steel producers in Europe with an annual output of around seven million tonnes. With over 100 subsidiaries and associated companies, the Group is structured in four business units – Stee ...

, HHLA also operates the ''Hansaport'', Germany's largest terminal for

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is Product (business), product cargo that is transported packaging, unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate (as a mass of relatively small solids) form, ...

Real estate

HHLA develops, designs and operates commercial properties. These include the

Speicherstadt The Speicherstadt (, literally: 'City of Warehouses', meaning warehouse district) in Hamburg, Germany, is the largest warehouse district in the world where the buildings stand on deep foundation, timber-pile foundations—oak logs, in this parti ...

historical warehouse district, the area surrounding the Fischmarkt Hamburg-Altona as well as other logistics facilities and office buildings in and around the Port of Hamburg.

Other

The company supports and oversees the development of start-ups and holds investments in technology companies in the areas of drone technology and

3D printing 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...

. It co-founded the joint venture ''Hyperport Cargo Solutions'' to develop a component to bring

Hyperloop Hyperloop is a proposed high-speed transportation system for both passengers and freight. The concept was published by entrepreneur Elon Musk in a 2013 white paper, where the hyperloop was described as a transportation system using capsules supp ...

technology to ports.

History

1885–1945

Hamburg's state quay administration was founded in 1866.Christine Zeuner: ''Erwachsenenbildung in Hamburg 1945–1972. Institutionen und Profile'', Münster, Hamburg 2000, p. 264, . Its role included organising

transloading Transloading, also known as cross-docking, is the process of transferring a shipment from one mode of transportation to another. It is most commonly employed when one mode cannot be used for the entire trip, such as when goods must be shipped in ...

for the city and the maintenance of both the

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

s and the equipment and machinery on them. In March 1885, the city founded the ''Hamburger Freihafen-Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft'' (HFLG). As part of Hamburg's inclusion in the German Imperial customs system, the company's role was to build and maintain the world's most modern and largest logistics centre at that time – Hamburg's

historical warehouse district. It was an

Aktiengesellschaft (; abbreviated AG ) is a German language, German word for a corporation limited by Share (finance), share ownership (i.e., one which is owned by its shareholders) whose shares may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria ...

from the very beginning, with the city contributing the property and

Norddeutsche Bank The Norddeutsche Bank was a German bank that existed from 1856 to 1929. It was established by Berenberg Bank, H.J. Merck & Co. and the bank house of Salomon Heine and private founders such as Robert Kayser as the first joint-stock bank in norther ...

the capital. Construction of the Speicherstadt warehouse district began in 1885 and was largely completed by 1912. By 1913, the Port of Hamburg was the third-largest in the world behind the ports of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–1918), the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

blocked the seaports of the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...

. This brought business in Hamburg and its port to a complete standstill. In the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

, the allied powers forced Germany to give up the majority of its merchant navy. Companies such as HAPAG were, however, able to retool in the coming years. In 1927, the City of Hamburg became the sole shareholder in HFLG. The effects of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

(from 1929),

protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations ...

in many industrial countries, the seizure of control by the

National Socialists Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

(1933) and their autarky policy saw cross border trade drop to levels lower than before the crisis. In 1935, HFLG merged with the state quay administration to become the ''Betriebsgesellschaft der hamburgischen Hafenanlagen''. As well as operating the port facilities, it was also responsible for their upkeep and expansion. In 1939, the company was renamed, becoming ''Hamburger Hafen- und Lagerhaus-Aktiengesellschaft'' (HHLA). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, HHLA employed

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

. Allied bombers attacked the Port of Hamburg multiple times, destroying large parts of it.

1945–2000

The Second World War ended in May 1945. The Port of Hamburg had suffered further damage. Around 90% of the quay shed area was destroyed, and two thirds of the warehouses were left unusable. Large parts of the quay walls lay in ruins. Almost 3,000 shipwrecks prevented regulated shipping movements. The reconstruction of the port was largely completed by 1956. 1967 saw the opening of the "Übersee-Zentrum". It was, at the time, the world's largest distribution shed and was used as a distribution facility for mixed

break bulk cargo In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk, or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, are goods that are stowed on board ships in individually counted units. Traditionally, the large numbers of items are recorded on distinct bill of lading, bil ...

. It remained in use until 2016. The first

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

docked in the Port of Hamburg in 1968. It was handled at ''Burchardkai'' – where HHLA later built the ''Container Terminal Burchardkai'' – using

container crane A container crane (also container handling gantry crane or ship-to-shore crane) is a type of large dock (maritime), dockside gantry crane found at container terminals for loading and unloading intermodal containers from container ships. Containe ...

s. In 1970, new port order regulations relieved HHLA of all sovereign functions. This created competition between companies in the port industry. In 1978, HHLA opened its new fruit and cooling centre for fruit and refrigerated goods, which has been modernised multiple times in the years since. In 1990, many of the former

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

states became independent after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

. The Port of Hamburg was soon able to resume handling cargo for these countries (its

Hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...

was now much larger). HHLA began to invest in a number of companies that organised container transport on the railway network, and the volume of cargo that they handled rose.

2000- present

On 25 June 2002, the first container ship was handled at the new Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) . On 1 October 2005, the company changed its name to ''Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG''. The abbreviation HHLA remained. HHLA was retroactively split into the subgroups ''Port Logistics'' and ''Real Estate'' with effect from 1 January 2007. On 2 November 2007, the Port Logistics subgroup was listed on the stock exchange. Since its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

in October 2007, HHLA shares have been traded on the

Prime Standard The Prime Standard is a market segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange that includes companies which comply with transparency standards higher than those of the General Standard, which is regulated by law. The Prime Standard includes quarterly rep ...

at the

Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (, former German name: , ''FWB'') is the world's 3rd oldest and 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Located in Frankfurt, ...

and the

Hamburg Stock Exchange The Hamburg Stock Exchange () is the oldest stock exchange in Germany. It was founded in 1558 in the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany ...

. In 2010, Burchardkai and am Tollerort were fused to decrease costs after a decrease of 30 percent in container business and 20 percent in across land logistics in 2009. There had been delays in the digging of the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

to deepen it for large container ships. In early 2023, Chinese shipping firm

Cosco China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) was a former shipping corporation from 1961 to 2016, owned by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council of China. The company merged with China Shipping Group, China Shipping Grou ...

bought one of the three terminals, which caused protests by the German government coalition (

Scholz cabinet The Scholz cabinet (, ) was the 24th Government of Germany, Government of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany during the 20th legislative session of the Bundestag. It was sworn in on 8 December 2021 following the 2021 German federal electio ...

)and from abroad. In September 2023 it was reported that billionaire

Klaus-Michael Kühne Klaus-Michael Kühne (born 2 June 1937) is a German billionaire businessman. In October 2021, the ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'' estimated Kühne's net worth to be US$36.2 billion, making him the richest person in Germany. He is the honorary c ...

wanted to take over HHLA. which was followed by an offer of Swiss MSC of nearly 1.3 billion euros.

Gallery

File:Altenwerder5590.JPG, Container Terminal Altenwerder (2006) File:WPAhoi, Terminal Burchardkai, Hamburg (P1080571).jpg, Container Terminal Burchardkai (2019) File:Container Terminal Tollerort (Hamburg-Steinwerder).3.phb.ajb.jpg, Container Terminal Tollerort (2013) File:V 90 der Metrans.JPG, V 90 of ''Metrans'' (2016) File:Grosse Elbstrasse.Elbkaihaus.wmt.jpg, Elbkaihaus (Real Estate, 2010)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Logistics companies of Germany Shipping companies of Germany Companies based in Hamburg Port operating companies