Despite the difficult economic environment, cargo throughput at the
Port of Rotterdam rose by 1.7% to 442 million tonnes in 2012 in comparison with the previous year.
Commenting on the news,
Hans Smits, President and CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority said: "Although the growth is limited, it is another record for Rotterdam. Container throughput increased slightly in 2012, thanks especially to exports. In the dry bulk market segment, the declining steel production in Europe was responsible for reduced throughput, especially of ore. This shift was more than compensated by the growth in liquid bulk: more crude oil and oil products particularly were handled. The latter category has actually tripled in size over the past ten years. That shows that the port of Rotterdam is increasingly becoming a hub for global trade. This helps the port to continue to grow, as global trade generally develops faster than the Dutch and the European economies. The positive throughput figures for this year do not alter the fact that the profit margins for many companies are under pressure, some businesses are in the red and some are dismissing staff."
The Port of Rotterdam Authority said it expects a further growth of around 2% this year.
Dry bulk
In dry bulk, less cargo was handled across the board. Bad harvests in major grain and oil seed exporting countries and the ensuing high prices caused agribulk throughput to drop by 18%. Iron ore and scrap dropped 12% due to the low steel production in Europe. Several blast furnaces have closed. Throughput of cokes coal (used in blast furnaces) did not keep pace with the drop in iron ore handling, because cargo flows were bundled and now go via the port of Rotterdam. Cokes coal throughput dropped nevertheless by 4%. The causes were said to be the reduced demand for coal for electricity generation due to the availability of sustainable energy in the summer and stocks being used up. Throughput of other dry bulk dropped by 9%, due especially to the slump in building and disappointing industrial production. A total of 79 million tonnes of dry bulk was handled.
Liquid bulk
Throughput of crude oil increased by 6% in 2012. On the one hand, the refinery sector experienced fewer significant maintenance breaks than last year and, on the other hand, production capacity ceased elsewhere in Europe - a reason why production in the Netherlands was driven up.
Similar to previous years, the throughput of mineral oil products increased, this time by 12%. The most sinificant reason was said to be the increased trade of oil products, due principally to the difference in the price of fuel oil in Europe and Asia. The throughput of naphtha, gas oil, diesel, kerosene and petrol also increased.
LNG imports remained at a low level, because prices in Asia were much higher, resulting in product being transported to the Far East rather than to Europe.
Other liquid bulk experienced growth of 4%, partly through the start up of Neste (palm oil import) and the increased import of biodiesel. A total of 214 million tonnes of liquid bulk was handled. This cargo segment thus represents half of the cargo throughput in the port of Rotterdam.
Containers and breakbulk
The continuing economic slump means less cargo is imported and more is exported. The balance of those two is a growth of 2% in tonnage. Because export containers are heavier on average and fewer containers were going back empty, the throughput in numbers of containers (TEU) remained the same. The port of Rotterdam lost cargo in the feeder market, but gained short sea containers. The 11.9 million TEU in containers came to 126 million tonnes.
Roll on/roll off increased by 3%, despite the ailing British economy. Other general cargo dropped by 23%, due especially to the greatly reduced import of steel. This brings breakbulk to a total of -5% with 24 million tonnes.
Expectations for 2013
"In view of the prospects of the development of the Dutch and European, and especially the German economies, modest growth of around 2% is expected again for 2013. This means that the throughput for next year will probably approach 450 million tonnes.
"The throughput is expected to increase slightly faster in subsequent years, on the one hand, because the economic prospects for 2014 are better and, on the other hand, because the current investments in tank storage, container terminals and coal-fired power plants will result in more throughput over time," Port of Rotterdam Authority said.
