Refrigerated containers throughput in main European ports in Q1 and Q2 2025

In the second quarter of 2025, the global refrigerated container market remains under pressure due to ongoing Red Sea disruptions and extended transit times, according to DHL Ocean Reefer Market Overview ^[1]. In Northern Europe, port congestion and labour actions are causing delays at major European entry ports like Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Hamburg, impacting cold chain efficiency, with reports of refrigerated container plug point shortages.

 

Nevertheless, refrigerated volumes continue to grow, especially on trade routes from South America to Europe, and Asia to the Middle East. Furthermore, refrigerated container volumes are forecast to grow from 4 million TEU (the standard unit for containers) in 2023 to 7.1 million TEU by 2030 (CAGR 8.8%), driven by food and pharmaceutical cold chains, along with e-commerce.

 

Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands  

In Europe’s largest port, Rotterdam, container throughput increased by 2.2% to 3.3 million TEUs in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period last year ^[2]. Refrigerated containers represent about 14% of container types ^[3]. LNG imports grew by 1.7% in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 in 2024 ^[2].

 

Port of Antwerp, Belgium

The Port of Antwerp is Europe’s second largest container hub, where nearly 1 in 10 of the containers handled is a reeferrefrigerated container ^[4]. In the first quarter of 2025, container throughput drove growth, rising 4.5% in TEUs compared to the same period in 2024, despite geopolitical uncertainties and container alliance restructuring ^[5]. LNG saw a steep decline of 44.4%, due to EU sanctions on Russian LNG transshipment ^[6].

 

Port of Hamburg, Germany

The latest figures from Hamburg – Europe’s third largest container port – show a slight increase in container throughput, up 0.9% in 2024 ^[7].

 

 

Container throughput: Containers are measured in Twenty Foot Equivalent units (TEU), general containers are often two sizes. A 20 foot container is considered one TEU and a 40 foot container is two.

 

 

Sources

[1] Ocean Freight Market Outlook Q2 2025. https://www.dhl.com/content/dam/dhl/global/dhl-global-forwarding/documents/pdf/dhl-dgf-ofr-reefer-market-update.pdf

[2] https://www.portofrotterdam.com/en/news-and-press-releases/decline-oil-oil-products-depresses-throughput-port-rotterdam-first-quarter-2025

[3] https://www.portofrotterdam.com/sites/default/files/2024-06/container-facts-figures-2024.pdf

[4] https://newsroom.portofantwerpbruges.com/strong-container-throughput-drives-port-of-antwerp-bruges-growth-despite-challenging-market-conditions

[5] https://newsroom.portofantwerpbruges.com/strong-container-throughput-restricts-downturn-in-an-eventful-first-quarter

[6] https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/6676777e-5b3d-4f43-88a7-6e6e02ed0210/-/inline/no/Jaarcijfers_Q1_2025_Factsheet_ENG.pdf

[7] https://www.hafen-hamburg.de/en/press/news/port-of-hamburg-growth-in-container-throughput-and-rail-transport/