Final figures Rotterdam slightly better

Throughput in the port of Rotterdam for the year 2009 ended up two million tonnes higher than suggested by the provisional figures published at the end of December 2009. The percentage decline in throughput is 8.1%, instead of the 8.5% initially calculated.

The difference is due primarily to a slightly smaller decline in imports of crude oil. In the other goods categories, small(er) differences are involved. The final figures are used in the report (original text of December 2009) below.

In 2009, goods throughput in the port of Rotterdam fell to 387 million tonnes. This is 8.1% down on 2008. Imports shrank by 12.7% to 273 million tonnes; exports increased by 5.1% to 114 million tonnes.

Bulk was 8.4% down on the previous year; general cargo fell by 7.5%. There was less incoming and outgoing trade in agribulk (-20%), ores and scrap (-47.1%), coal (-15%), other dry bulk (-15%), crude oil (-4%), other liquid bulk (-15.8%), roll on/roll off (-10.6%), other general cargo (-18.4%) and containers (-6.3%). Only the handling of mineral oil products showed a positive trend (+23.2%), actually achieving the biggest absolute increase (13 million tonnes) ever.

Hans Smits, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO: considering the circumstances, we cannot be dissatisfied. After hitting rock bottom in the second quarter, throughput has been improving slightly every month and virtually all the investments are going ahead. Moreover, Rotterdam is doing better than its main rivals. But I am not unconcerned.

Many of our clients are having a difficult time and that will not be much different in 2010. The best medicine for this is growth, partly through an increase in our market shares. We therefore intend to continue with our active commercial policy. As a result of this, among other things, I hope that we will be able to break through the 400 million tonne barrier again next year. That means growth in throughput considerably over 3%.

The general cargo sector had a poor year as a consequence of declining world trade, although the total fall of -7.5% to 122.2 million tonnes is a reasonable result in comparison with rival ports.

This definitely also applies to the handling of containers, which was 6.3% down on last year, but managed to remain just above 100 million tonnes. As fewer empty containers were handled, the decline in units was -9.6% to 9,743.290 TEU. Rotterdam is doing well in the largest Trade in quantitative terms, that between Europe and Asia.

Shipping lines combined services and deployed the biggest possible vessels to reduce costs. What Rotterdam has to offer (location, depth, hinterland transport, port tariffs) is tailored well to this and means that the port can benefit from the trend. Container traffic within Europe, mainly to the major destinations such as England, Ireland and Spain, was hit quite hard, however.

The services to North and South America are sharing in the malaise. The Baltic trade, mostly involving feeder traffic linked to the Asia services, is really flourishing, however. <Korea Shipping Gazette>