Container volume back above pre-corona level, large increase in throughput of oil products, iron ore, coal and biomass
Goods throughput in the port of Rotterdam rose to 118.5 million tonnes in the third quarter, 14.6% more than in the same period last year. Throughput was 350.1 million tonnes through to the end of the third quarter, an increase of 8.6% on 2020.
During that time, there was strong growth in almost all throughput segments, and particularly in mineral oil products (+13.5%), iron ore and scrap metal (+42%), coal (+48.4%) and biomass (+18.7%). Containers are also still on the rise (+4.0% in tonnes, +7.8% in TEUs). The only falls were in agribulk (-12.8%) and LNG (-1.8%).
Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority: “These quarterly figures show that the economy is continuing its upward path. The whole world was in lockdown last year because of the corona pandemic. Now factories, businesses and logistics are operating flat out again to meet increased demand. However, the extent to which growth will continue also depends on how fast acute shortages in some links of the logistics chain can be reduced. Nevertheless, the port of Rotterdam wants to facilitate this growth as much as possible. We are committed to good jobs for current and future generations, and to future earning capacity in the Netherlands. At the same time, we are investing in the transition to a more sustainable energy system, with more green hydrogen and lower carbon emissions.”
Developments by segment
Liquid bulk
Liquid bulk, the largest segment in tonnage terms, rose by 6.4% over the first three quarters of last year to 152.1 million tonnes. The throughput of crude oil (+3 million tonnes) and oil products (+5.7 million tonnes) rose sharply. In the case of oil, one of the factors was that margins have been better for refiners in recent weeks.
Dry bulk
Dry bulk throughput rose more than 27% compared with the first three quarters of 2020. The increase in volume was mainly in iron ore and coal. Iron ore throughput collapsed in 2020 because there was much less demand for steel due to the corona crisis. This year, on the other hand, steel production has risen sharply again. That has also had an impact on the throughput of cokes.
Containers
The throughput of containers has been high since autumn 2020. Growth in the first nine months of 2021 was 7.8% in TEU and 4.0% in tonnes. Consumers are spending generously and the economy is recovering from the corona dip in 2020, with volumes being higher than in 2019. This strong demand, in combination with various disruptions in 2021 (Suez, corona outbreaks in Chinese ports), means that pressure on the logistics chain continues to be high. This also led to persistently high transportation prices.
For more information:
Port of Rotterdam
Tel.: +31 (0)10 252 10 10
Web: portofrotterdam.com