Rotterdam bullish as box volumes carry on growing
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Total cargo throughput grew by 14.8% on the same period last year, to 213 million tonnes, with exports up 15% and imports up 14.7%.
Container volumes were up 812,000teu at 4.6 million teu, although the growth tempo of the first quarter slowed as the year progressed. Ro-ro volumes were up 2% at eight million tonnes.
The growth in container traffic was driven by Asia, particularly China, and Europe, especially the Baltic and UK “due to the tentative recovery of the British economy”, said the port.
Hans Smits, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO, said: “Rotterdam is benefiting greatly from the upturn in world trade, especially involving China and Germany.
“Total throughput is now more or less back to the 2008 level. However, in the second half of the year, the growth in throughput tends to decline.
“For the year as a whole, the increase is expected to be in the region of 10%. It will be exciting to see whether or not the port can make up for the losses of 2009 in just one year.”
Port of Rotterdam Authority has also released its volume expectations for the next 20 years. It expected annual volumes to grow from the current level of 420 million tonnes to 575-740 million tonnes by 2030, based on three different economic scenarios.
However, in all the scenarios, containers are predicted to be the biggest growth sector, raw materials show limited growth or even a decline, while semi-manufactured products, like mineral oil products and steel, are set to increase. In addition, developments in the energy field will have a big influence on throughput.
The port authority will use the figures as the basis for its Port Vision 2030.
