[ Amsterdam Ports Region Heading Towards New Record ]

The Amsterdam Ports region-the ports of Velsen, Beverwijk, Zaanstad an
d Amsterdam-is heading for yet another record year. Based on transship
ment volumes for the last nine months, Port Management expects this ye
ar’s levels to exceed 1996’s record(54.7 million tones). Goods total
ing over 43.5 million tons have already been transshipped, a growth of
8.5 per cent on the period. Both dry and liquid bulk movements grew.
Dry bulk increased by 9.3 per cent to 29 million tons and liquid bulk
by 15.4 per cent to 8.7 million tons. Over the last three quarters 5.8
million tons general cargo were transshipped(-3.6 per cent).
“It is satisfying that record transshipments in our region are writte
n our grasp for the third year in succession”, says Port Management E
xecutive Director Godfriend van den Heuvel. “Even though profits can
always turn down, I am convinced the region will sustain the upward tr
end after 1997. Prospects are good. New port sites will be available a
nd employment. The second large lock is also close to realisation, now
that it is in the Minister of Transport’s Infrastructure and Transpo
rt Programme. Calcuations suggest that a second large lock will lead t
o a major increase in cargo transport and employment.”
Since January, transshipments of liquid bulk rose by 15.4 percent whic
h means the sector is now handling a total of over 8.7 million tons of
which some 6.7 million tons of oil products(+21.9 percent). Arrivals
in particular rose sharply due to expected price increases. This led t
o large oil stocks being built up. A fall in outgoing shipments led to
reduced transshipment levels for crude oil by 28.6 percent to 532,000
tons.
The “other liquid bulk”(nearly chemicals, fruit juices and edible oi
ls) increased by 12.5 percent over the last nine months to over 1.4 mi
llion tons.
The total dry bulk sector expanded by 9.3 percent in the first nine mo
nths of the year to over 29 million tons, of which 9 million tons coal
transshipment. Despite the stagnation in demand due to the temporary
closure of the Amsterdam Power Station, coal levels still rose by 2.5
percent on last year. Increasing demand from Asia had a hand in the 16
.1 percent growth in the cargo categories ores and scrap to 7.6 millio
n tons. Agribulk(grains, cattle feed and oil seeds) recorded profits o
f 7.2 percent, with levels totalling 7.1 million tons. Transshipment l
evels for fertilisers include a fall in arrivals due to reductions in
livestock numbers, but an increase in transport due to a growth in exp
ort volumes. Compared to the same period last year transshipment remai
ned more or less stable, totalling 644,000 tons(+1.5 percent). Other d
ry bulk, especially chemicals, rose by 17.8 percent to 4.7 million ton
s.
Transshipments in the general cargo sector fell slightly over the peri
od to 5.8 million tons(-3.6 percent). Prime cause of this fall was the
decrease in container movement to some 720,000 tons, a fall of 43 per
cent on the same period last year. Due to a rise in car transshipment
levels the ro/ro sector increased by 6.7 percent to 416,000 tons. Othe
r general cargo, including conventional and unit loads, rose by 7.3 pe
rcent to 4.7 million tons.