ROTTERDAM CONFIRMS BOX TRAFFIC RECOVERY

ROTTERDAM CONFIRMS BOX TRAFFIC RECOVERY    The port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest container port, confirmed that its container throughput picked up again in 2002, after two lackluster years.
   The Dutch port said that it handled 6.5 million TEUs in 2002, 7 percent — or 420,000 TEUs — more than in 2001. In tonnage, the port’s containerized cargo throughput reached 66 million tons in 2002, up from 62 million in 2001.
   The volume increase appears to mark a turnaround point for Rotterdam, which saw its annual box traffic stagnate at 6.3 million in 2000 and slide to 6.1 million in 2001, while other European ports increased their volumes.
   The port of Rotterdam described the fourth quarter of 2002 as “very good” in volume terms.
   During the first half of 2002, container volume reached 3.1 million TEUs, an increase of 2.4 percent. During the second half of the year, container traffic jumped by 11.5 percent, to 3.4 million TEUs.
   Particularly during the third quarter, a high number of outgoing empty containers were handled by the port — 49 percent more than in the same period of 2001. The port said that the surge in empty outbound moves was caused by the port labor situation on the U.S. West Coast, which forced carriers to move empty boxes from western Europe to make up for shortages of containers.
   “Rotterdam is benefiting from general developments; container handling in western Europe is high in 2002, as is the increase in ‘short sea’ traffic,” a spokesman for the port said.
   “European container transhipment is even doing extremely well,” said Willem Scholten, chief executive officer of the Rotterdam Municipal Port Management. However, Scholten cautioned that while volumes are satisfactory, “nobody is pleased with the margins.”
   Commenting on the recovery of the container traffic in Rotterdam, Scholten said that things are getting better, but “there is still room for improvement.” The port must reclaim lost terrain, he added.