Rotterdam port is losing out to state-funded competitors: study

Subsidies at Antwerp and Hamburg cost Rotterdam 7% of its containers – or 10% when dredging costs on the Elbe, Maas and Scheldt are taken into account, the ‘Level playing field’ study, carried out by RHV-Erasmus University and Ecorys by order of the Netherlands’ Ministry of Infrastructure, found.

If the dredging costs are left out, Flemish ports receive EUR0.54 ($0.74) per tonne per annum from the government, the German ports EUR0.81, while Dutch ports get nothing.

The Port Authority intends bring the matter before the European Commission, writing in a company circular that state subsidies are not the Dutch Government’s responsibility and were “not desirable” for any country in a “Europe without borders.”

“The free movement of goods and services on a level playing field is the cornerstone of a strong European economy,” it said.

Port chief executive Allard Castelein said: “The Port of Rotterdam Authority finances investments in port infrastructure itself, whereas the governments in Flanders and Germany contribute or make up the difference if their port managers make a loss. That leads to a distortion of the market, so that the terminals in Rotterdam lose cargo to their rivals in Hamburg and Antwerp in particular.”