The Port Authority of Rotterdam highlighted container traffic which was up 4%, despite some ships being diverted to Antwerp due to congestion on the Maasvlakte. Deepsea and shortsea box traffic were up by 6% and 4% respectively, owing to a tentative economic recovery. Rotterdam cites a strong British economy as a particular factor in the improved shortsea performance.
“With the exception of a few sectors, the port is doing pretty well. Particularly striking is the 4% increase in containers. After March, even as high as an average 6%. This makes it even clearer that we badly need the new terminals on Maasvlakte 2 if we are to achieve further growth," said Allard Castelein, Port of Rotterdam Authority ceo.
"The increase of no less than 31% in the handling of other mixed cargo is also noteworthy. However mineral oil products in particular, at -11%, are considerably down on last year.”
Crude oil volumes were up from 2013's low levels by 2%,as utilisation at European refineries remains depressed. Chemical feedstocks such as mineral oil products and other liquid bulk were down by 11% and 9% respectively as Rotterdam faces competition from other ports and European economic growth remains low.
LNG offers a possibility of being the next big thing, as although limited in scale volumes rose by 137% as Rotterdam plays its part in handling Scandinavian LNG for the world market.
The dry bulk sector performed rather better, agribulk throughput increased by 26%, boosted by imports of soya and exports of wheat. Iron ore and scrap metal fell 5%, but coal was up by 6% as German blast furnaces routed their coking coal through Rotterdam from other ports.
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