Rotterdam Port Ends First Three Quartals with Lower Cargo Volumes
The plunge in dry bulk volumes at the Dutch Port of Rotterdam contributed to the 1.9 percent decrease in the port’s total cargo throughput for the first three quarters of 2016, compared to the same period last year.
According to MANA, From January to September 2016, the port handled 344.7 million tons, against 351.5 million tons in the first nine months of 2015.The volume of dry bulk handled in the port fell by 7.8 percent, from 65.4 million tons in the first nine months of 2015 to 60.2 million tons in the same period this year. Within the dry bulk segment, iron ore and scrap metal fell by 8.5 percent and coal throughput decreased by 10.3 percent.
Furthermore, throughput in liquid bulk decreased by 0.4 percent, from 169.25 million tons in the first three quarters of 2015 to 168.56 million tons in the same period this year.
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Compared to the previous year, throughput of containers decreased by 0.4 percent in TEU. All in all, some 9.26 million TEUs was handled in the port, against 9.3 million TEUs recorded in the first three quarters of 2015.
Following Hanjin Shipping’s filing for receivership, the suspension of payments by this shipping company led to an estimated loss of 30,000 TEU for the port of Rotterdam, the port said.
In addition, the port said that the impact of Brexit is not yet felt in RoRo volumes including ferries to the UK and the volume in this segment went up by 1.1 percent.