Port of Rotterdam total cargo throughput up 2.0% to 3.3 million TEUs in Q1 2024
Total throughput at the Port of Rotterdam fell by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year, according to the company's release. In the first three months of this year, throughput amounted to 110.1 million tons compared to 111.7 million tons in the first quarter of 2023. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in transshipment of coal, crude oil and petroleum products. The volume of processing of iron ore, scrap and LNG has increased. Container shipping also grew by 3.3%.
Bulk cargo throughput decreased by 4.5% compared to the first three months of 2023. The main reason for the decline is a sharp reduction in coal transshipment. Two million tonnes less coal was handled than last year due to lower demand for thermal coal to generate electricity from coal-fired power plants. As German steel production increased, iron ore imports also increased. The strong 93.7% growth in other dry bulk segments is distorted by the fact that there was a capacity adjustment in the first quarter of 2023. The same applies to the 23.9% drop in the agricultural cargo segment. On an unadjusted basis, throughput in the agricultural cargo segment decreased by 10.9%. Other dry cargo showed a decrease of 16.8%. Another segment of dry cargo is raw materials used in energy-intensive industries. Production in these sectors remains low as energy costs account for a significant portion of production costs.
Throughput of liquid cargo decreased by 3.1% to 52.6 million tons. The decrease by 1.6 million tons was caused by a decrease in Throughput of crude oil, petroleum products and other liquid cargo. Refinery margins in northwestern Europe are good, resulting in efficient refinery utilization and crude oil inventories at almost the same levels as in 2023. However, demand for oil products this quarter was lower than in the first quarter of 2023, when there were many imports to replace Russian oil products. Throughput of LNG, as a source of natural gas, again increased by 3.6% to 9.1 million tons.
The container segment is showing a slight increase in throughput for the first time in three years. Throughput in tonnes showed an increase of 3.3% (from 31.5 million tonnes to 32.5 million tonnes) and in TEUs (standard unit for containers), throughput increased by 2.0% to 3.3 million TEUs. The situation in the Red Sea led to a significant decrease in the number of ships (24.5%) and volumes of shipments from Asia (-13.7%) in January and February due to delays and missed sailings. Adaptation to changed flight schedules initially led to the necessary adjustments to the logistics chain. Overall freight demand was largely unaffected. Now this situation is under control. Significantly more ships arrived in March (11.5%) and volumes from Asia recovered. Volumes in other supply areas also showed positive results. This is supported by a cautious economic recovery and lower inventories. Feeder traffic from Rotterdam to Mediterranean seaports also shows significant growth (29.0%). Since ships pass through the Cape of Good Hope, bypassing ports, cargo destined for the region is sent from Rotterdam to Mediterranean ports via feeder ships.
The total throughput of the bulk cargo market segment (Roll-on/Roll-off and other bulk cargo) decreased by 1.9% to 7.8 million tons. RoRo throughput fell 3.8% to 6.3 million tonnes compared with the first quarter of last year as UK supply volumes continue to struggle to recover. Other breakbulk supplies increased by 7.4% to 1.5 million tons.
