Dublin Port Company cargo volumes grow 7.0% in 2014
Dublin Port Company published trade statistics for 2014 which show a record year for trade at Dublin Port, with growth year-on-year of 7.0%.
Total throughput for 2014 was 31 million gross tonnes with 7,108 ship arrivals in the year, bringing the port’s activity back to the record levels of 2007, the company said in its press release.
Imports in 2014 were over 18 million gross tonnes, while exports exceeded 12 million gross tonnes, representing increases of 6.3% and 8.0% respectively on 2013 trade levels.
The recovery in the Port’s trade has been export-led with volumes of exports 1.6 million gross tonnes greater than in 2007. On the import side there has been continuing recent growth (driven by improving domestic consumption) and this has pushed Dublin Port’s overall volumes ahead to equal previous record levels of 31 million gross tonnes.
High levels of growth were recorded for trade vehicles, mostly new cars destined for dealerships around the country. The port received 81,169 trade vehicles in 2014, up 33.3% on the previous year. To accommodate the growing number of trade vehicles entering the port, Dublin Port opened a new €3.4 million 4.2 hectare trade car terminal at East Wall Road in October 2014. This new terminal can cater for 2,500 vehicles at a time.
There was particularly strong growth in the unitised modes with Ro-Ro trailers ahead by 7.9% and Dublin Port’s Lo-Lo container business ahead by 9.4%. In 2014, the Ro-Ro sector achieved strong results with 821,876 units while Lo-Lo containers finished the year at 565,698 twenty foot equivalent units (TEU). The strong performance of the unitised business highlights Dublin Port as the island’s port of choice for both Ro-Ro and Lo-Lo services.
On the tourism side, 1.7 million ferry passengers travelled through the port in 2014, representing a 6.4% increase on last year and placing Dublin Port on a par with major airports including Cork and Shannon. In addition, 2014 was a strong year for the port’s cruise business with 140,000 visitors on 86 cruise ships.