Port of Rotterdam posts 5.4% rise in throughput

The Port of Rotterdam posted a cargo throughput of 351.5 million tons for the first nine months of 2015, a year-over-year increase of 5.4 percent, driven primarily by the increase in the handling of crude oil and oil products.    The Port of Rotterdam had a cargo throughput of 351.5 million tons during the first nine months of 2015, an increase of 5.4 percent from the same period in 2014, the Port of Rotterdam Authority said.
   The growth primarily resulted from an increase in the handling of crude oil and oil products, which represents about half of the port’s throughput, while the majority of other goods were handled in similar quantities as last year, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO Allard Castelein explained.
   The Port of Rotterdam handled 77.4 million tons of crude oil during the first nine months of 2015, a year-over-year increase of 8.5 percent. The port primarily attributed the growth to the low price of oil.
   A total of 67.3 million tons of mineral oil products were handled at the Port of Rotterdam during the first nine months of the year, an increase of 22.1 percent from the same period in 2014. The port attributed the strong result to refineries processing more crude oil than last year. Refineries in Rotterdam, Germany, Antwerp, Vlissingen and Russia produce a large amount of fuel oil which is shipped to the Far East through the Port of Rotterdam.
   The port’s LNG throughput skyrocketed from the first nine months of 2014 by 83.8 percent to 1.8 million tons.
   Other liquid bulk throughput stood at 22.8 million tons, a year-over-year drop of 1.2 percent.
   Although oil throughput was strong, dry bulk goods posted a downward trend. Agribulk throughput fell 11.7 percent from the first nine months of 2014 to 7.8 million tons, as strong European harvests resulted in less imports.
   Iron ore and scrap fell 2 percent to 25.4 million tons.
   Coal remained flat at 22.8 million tons, while other dry bulk fell 5.7 percent to 9.3 million tons.
   Roll-on/roll-off traffic rose 11.4 percent from the first nine months of 2014 to 16.6 million tons.
   Container throughput in terms of TEUs rose 1 percent from the first nine months of 2014 to 9.3 billion TEUs. Container tonnage volume only rose 0.2 percent to 95.9 million tons. The slow growth resulted from a decline in Chinese exports; a slowdown of the growth of emerging economies, such as Brazil; and the deterioration of the Russian economy, which reduced container throughput to the region. In addition, new terminals on Maasvlakte 2 are not operating at a sufficient speed to handle large volumes, while container terminals on Maasvlakte 1 have a high occupancy rate, which is currently limiting growth.