Used and one-way containers in Germany: resale, reuse and sourcing

What we do for container owners in Germany

If you hold one-way, SOC, off-hire or used containers that are arriving in Germany or already standing there, you can report them before they are unloaded. We look for a professional buyer or a reuse option near the place where the boxes are, so that repositioning an empty container is not the only option.

We find and arrange containers to your request. Every request is reviewed by a person, and nothing is shown to a counterparty until both sides are confirmed.

What we do for buyers and sourcing teams

Container traders, exporters, storage and conversion companies and other business users can register what they need: type, quantity range, region and whether the need is a one-off or recurring. When a reported lot fits, we introduce the two sides. When nothing fits, we say so rather than fill the gap with a listing.

Areas we cover

Hamburg and Bremerhaven are the German sea gateways we describe in detail today, and Duisburg is described as an inland hub; each has its own page with sourced port context. Other German locations are handled on request; use the form, name the location, and we will tell you whether we can help there.

Customs status matters before resale

German customs states that goods arriving from outside the EU generally have to be entered for a customs procedure. For a container this means the status of the box and its contents should be clear before any resale is discussed. We do not give customs advice; we ask what you know about status and ownership and leave the customs steps to you and your customs agent.

• According to the German customs administration (Zoll), goods imported from a non-EU country must be cleared by customs and generally entered for a customs procedure.

Sources: zoll.de · verified 2026-09-21

• According to the Port of Hamburg marketing site, Hamburg is Germany's largest container port and Europe's third largest.
• According to Port of Hamburg Marketing, Hamburg has four container terminals.
• According to Port of Hamburg Marketing, the four container terminals give an annual handling capacity of some 12 million TEU.
• According to HHLA, Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) handles almost one in three containers in the Port of Hamburg.
• According to HHLA, its Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) is a compact facility using straddle carriers that stack containers in four layers.
• According to Port of Hamburg Marketing, roughly 45.6 million tonnes were moved by rail in the Port of Hamburg in 2024.
• According to Port of Hamburg Marketing, around 200 goods trains run on the port railway daily.
• According to Port of Hamburg Marketing, Hamburg is source or destination for at least twelve percent of national rail freight traffic.
• According to Port of Hamburg Marketing, the Elbe and the Elbe-Seiten Canal allow barge transport to the south and centre of Germany as far as the Czech Republic.
• According to Port of Hamburg Marketing, the port is a short distance from the Kiel Canal and is well placed for connections to the Scandinavian region and the Baltic States.
• According to Port of Hamburg Marketing, Hamburg lies geographically between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
• According to bremenports, container throughput at Bremerhaven totalled 5.21 million TEU in 2025.
• According to bremenports, the terminal quay is 4,930 m long, and the port describes itself as one of Europe's largest coherent container terminal facilities.
• According to bremenports, Bremerhaven is served by rail and road connections for European import and export business, plus feeder vessels to other continental ports.
• According to bremenports, the rail facilities of Bremen's port railway in Bremerhaven (stations Kaiserhafen, Nordhafen, Imsumer Deich, Weddewarder Tief and sidings at Speckenbuettel) total 74.1 km of track, 47.5 km of it electrified.
• According to bremenports, Bremerhaven has 14 berths for mega-container vessels.
• EUROGATE Container Terminal Bremerhaven operates at Bremerhaven.
• duisport describes itself as the world's largest inland port (page undated).
• According to duisport, it comprises 21 port basins, 10 container terminals and about 200 kilometres of its own rail network (page undated).
• According to duisport, more than 20,000 ships and 25,000 trains are handled each year (page undated).
• According to duisport, annual throughput is over 100 million tonnes of cargo and around four million TEU (page undated).
• According to duisport's terminals page (undated), the terminals offer over 400 intermodal train connections per week to 100 national and international destinations.
• According to Contargo (page undated), its Mannheim terminal has a storage capacity of 8,850 TEU and handles barge, truck and rail.
• According to Contargo (page undated), the Mannheim terminal has 4 berths with a quay length of 1,050 m and 4 container cranes.
• According to Contargo (page undated), the Mannheim terminal has 4 rail tracks with a length of 2,600 m.
• Contargo states on its Mannheim terminal page that it sells and rents containers, stores empty containers and, on request, deals with cleaning, repairs, maintenance and servicing (page undated).
• According to Contargo (page undated), the Mannheim terminal lists maintenance and repairs, a reefer connection and handling of hazardous goods containers.
• According to bayernhafen, the trimodal terminal at bayernhafen Nürnberg is the central hub for combined transport in southern Germany, and its connections are fully electrified (page undated).
• According to bayernhafen, the operator of the handling facilities at bayernhafen Nürnberg is TriCon Container-Terminal Nürnberg GmbH (page undated).
• According to bayernhafen (21 March 2024), combined transport throughput at bayernhafen Nürnberg totalled 318,471 TEU in 2023, down 10.7% on the previous year.
• According to bayernhafen (21 March 2024), the combined transport terminal had reached the limit of its capacity since entering service in 2006, and new cranes expected by the end of 2026 would raise crane capacity by 21% to a total of 400,000 TEU.
• According to trade press reporting bayernhafen's results (27 February 2026), its seven locations handled 478,680 TEU in combined transport in 2025, a rise of one percent.

Sources: hafen-hamburg.de · hafen-hamburg.de · hhla.de · hafen-hamburg.de · bremenports.de · bremenports.de · bremenports.de · duisport.de · duisport.de · contargo.net · bayernhafen.com · bayernhafen.com · transport-online.de · verified 2026-10-01

• Dry containers (20DC / 40DC / 40HC): on request — tell us what you have or need in Germany and we will say honestly whether we can help.
• Damaged / AS-IS units: on request — tell us what you have or need in Germany and we will say honestly whether we can help.
• Reefer: on request — tell us what you have or need in Germany and we will say honestly whether we can help.
• Open top / flat rack: on request — tell us what you have or need in Germany and we will say honestly whether we can help.
• Tank: on request — tell us what you have or need in Germany and we will say honestly whether we can help.
• We are also extending into further equipment and service categories. Tell us what you have or need if you do not see it above — we will say honestly whether we can help.