Amsterdam’s first half cargo up 6.6%

Amsterdam’s first half cargo up 6.6% The Dutch Port of Amsterdam and its subsidiary ports achieved a 6.6 percent rise in cargo throughput for the first half of 2008 totaling 47.6 million tons.
   Amsterdam’s figures, including those from IJmuiden, Velsen, Beverwijk and Zaanstad, showed first half exports up 21 percent at 14.3 million tons with imports 1.4 percent higher at 33.3 million tons.
   Container volume after six months improved 19.4 percent to 209,928 TEUs. The increase was mainly due to the Grand Alliance adding a third Amsterdam call to its Asia/Europe network from March. The addition of the EU5 service provides the Dutch port with an extra 5,500 TEUs per month. For the year, Amsterdam expects to reach over 450,000 TEUs.