Throughput in the port of Rotterdam has increased sharply. In the first quarter of this year, 107 Mt of goods were handled, 14% more than in the same period of 2009, Worldcargonews reports.
Most types of goods were up: iron ore and scrap (+ 77%), other dry bulk (+ 32%), mineral oil products (+30%), containers (+21%), other liquid bulk (+ 7%), roll on/roll off (+8%).
Throughput figures for agribulk and coal were down by 32% and 17% respectively, and those for other general cargo and crude oil remained virtually unchanged.
Hans Smits, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO, said: “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.
"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.”
This positive state of affairs is due largely to the trade with Asia. Intra-European traffic, which leans heavily on the British Isles, lagged behind. Despite this, roll on/roll off traffic, concentrated almost wholly on England, picked up slightly: by over 7% to 4 Mt.