Rotterdam port says recovery ahead

Rotterdam port says recovery ahead    The Port of Rotterdam said it handled 385 million tons of cargo in 2009, an 8.5 percent decrease from 2008 but says it sees signs of recovery
   Hans Smits, Port of Rotterdam Authority chief executive officer, said 'after hitting rock bottom in the second quarter, throughput has been improving slightly every month and virtually all the investments are going ahead. Moreover, Rotterdam is doing better than its main rivals.
   'But I am not unconcerned,' he added. 'Many of our clients are having a difficult time and that will not be much different in 2010.'
   Smits said Rotterdam will focus on building market share and continuing active commercial policies. 'As a result of this, among other things, I hope that we will be able to break through the 400-million-ton barrier again next year. That means growth in throughput considerably over 3 percent,' he said.
   In 2009, the port's imports shrank by 13 percent to 272 million tons; exports increased by 5 percent to 113 million tons. Bulk volume was down 29 percent against the previous year, while general cargo fell 9 percent. Container traffic as measured in tons was off 6 percent, and as measured by TEUs handled, down 10 percent to 9.8 million TEUs.
   Nearly all other cargo categories also saw declines, including agribulk (-22 percent); ores and scrap (-47 percent); coal (-12 percent); other dry bulk (-13 percent); crude oil (-6 percent); other liquid bulk (-16 percent); roll on/roll off (-11 percent); and other general cargo (-16 percent). One area of increase was reported in mineral oil products, up 23 percent.
   Rotterdam said it's doing well in the Europe and Asia trades as shipping lines combine services and deploy the biggest possible vessels to reduce costs.
   “What Rotterdam has to offer ' location, depth, hinterland transport, port tariffs ' is tailored well to this and means that the port can benefit from the trend,” the port said. “Container traffic within Europe, mainly to the major destinations such as England, Ireland and Spain, was hit quite hard, however. The services to North and South America are sharing in the malaise. The Baltic trade, mostly involving feeder traffic linked to the Asia services, is really flourishing, however.”