Rotterdam port posts strong growth

The port of Rotterdam has seen throughput volumes increase sharply in the first quarter (Q1) of this year, with strong growth from the handling of some commodity goods, the port authority announced.

In Q1, 107 million tonnes of goods were handled, 14% more than in the corresponding period in 2009.

''The recovery in comparison with 2009 is very marked, but I prefer to compare it to 2008. That was a top year and up to now we are getting close to it,'' said Hans Smit, CEO of Port of Rotterdam Authority.

''I'm remaining non-committal though because consumers are still reserved and governments are making massive cuts. The growth will level off. The question is, will the port be able to make up for last year's 8% decline this year in one go. That would be a wonderful achievement.''

Iron ore imports were up to 9.4 million tonnes due to an increasing utilisation of blast furnace capacity. The increase this year is expected to end up at 80%.

Throughput figures for other dry bulk (minerals, construction materials, biomass) rose by almost one-third to 2.8 million tonnes, while agribulk shrank by a third for both incoming and outgoing trade to 1.5 million tonnes.

Imports of crude oil remained virtually unchanged at 25 million tonnes. The product margins in Rotterdam have increased due to the closure of refineries elsewhere in Europe and strong demand from Asia.

Other liquid bulk (chemical basic products, vegetable oils and fats, fruit juices) are recovering slightly to 8 million tonnes due to higher demand from industry.

Container throughput volumes continued the upward trend of the last quarter of 2009, rising over 20% to 22 million tonnes, or 2.6 million TEUs.

The growth was attributed to increased trade with Asia, but intra-European traffic, which leans heavily on the British Isles, lagged behind.

The transshipment of other general cargo hardly changed from the low level of 1.4 million tonnes. European demand is soaked by European producers of iron and steel, accounting for about half of mixed cargo throughput.