Port of Rotterdam’s Container Volumes Continue to Grow

Port of Rotterdam saw its total throughput drop by 0.4% in the first three quarters of 2018, compared to the same period a year earlier.

Container volumes continued to grow at a markedly higher pace than the first nine months of 2017, even recording a new all-time high in August. Wet and dry bulk, however, showed a decline in volume, although LNG and biomass were two positive outliers within these product segments.

A total of 350 million tonnes of cargo was handled in the port of Rotterdam, representing a decrease of 1.5 million tonnes compared to last year. The port said it expects to make up some of the difference in the fourth quarter, so that the throughput recorded for 2018 in its entirety “will be more or less equal to that of 2017.”

“The underlying shift in throughput figures that was observed in preceding quarters is continuing as expected. I am happy to see that the healthy growth in the Containers segment – one of the Port Authority’s spearheads – shows no signs of slowing down,” Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, said.

In 2018, container throughput increased by 5.7%, resulting in a total volume of 10,780,204 TEU. The strongest increase was recorded in the first seven months, with August 2018 setting a new record with 136,500 tonnes.

Additionally, the volume of LNG handled in Rotterdam continued to grow “at an impressive pace.” September 2018 was a record month, with a total throughput of close to 0.8 million tonnes.

The rise was mainly the outcome of the on-going intake of LNG transported by small carrier vessels to Rotterdam from the Yamal peninsula in Russia.

Total dry bulk throughput fell by 7.3% compared to the first three quarters of 2017. The strongest decrease could be observed in the agribulk and iron ore segments, the port informed.