ROTTERDAM RECORDS FALL IN VOLUME

ROTTERDAM RECORDS FALL IN VOLUME    The number of containers handled by the port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest container port, fell by 2.4 percent in 2001, to 6.1 million TEUs, from 6.3 million TEUs in 2000, according to preliminary port statistics.
   The reduction in container volumes was the result of the “relocation of a substantial proportion of feeder cargo to other ports,” the port authority of Rotterdam said.
   Total cargo traffic for all cargo types declined by 2.2 percent last year, to 315.5 million tons. The port of Rotterdam said that the decline was caused by the throughput of ore and scrap metal, down 13.4 percent, and by lower dry bulk cargo and general cargo volumes.
   “Although the dip in the economy came faster than anticipated, the overall decline was less than we might have expected,” said Willem Scholten, chairman of the Rotterdam Municipal Port Management. “But the really stormy weather is still to come.”
   Scholten reported that the decline in container throughput in the second half-year of 2001 stabilized.
   However, the Dutch port expects 2002 to be a difficult year and acknowledged the pressures faced by the container shipping industry and ports.
   “From a structural point of view, the market leaders on their continent such as Rotterdam, Long Beach, Hong Kong and Singapore are faced with the emergence of other ports in their vicinity,” Scholten said. “They are all losing terrain.”
   Scholten said that container shipping is “sliding into an economic abyss,” and finds itself confronted with overcapacity and a downward price spiral. “Reorganization and overcapacity give rise to unrest and place prices under pressure, including in the ports,” he commented. The Port of Rotterdam executive still expects to see long-term growth in traffic.