Container volume back above pre-corona level, large increase in throughput of oil products, iron ore, coal and biomass

Goods throughput in the port of Rotterdam rose to 118.5 million tonnes in the third quarter, 14.6% more than in the same period last year. Throughput was 350.1 million tonnes through to the end of the third quarter, an increase of 8.6% on 2020. During that time, there was strong growth in almost all throughput segments, and particularly in mineral oil products (+13.5%), iron ore and scrap metal (+42%), coal (+48.4%) and biomass (+18.7%). Containers are also still on the rise (+4.0% in tonnes, +7.8% in TEUs). The only falls were in agribulk (-12.8%) and LNG (-1.8%).

Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority: “These quarterly figures show that the economy is continuing its upward path. The whole world was in lockdown last year because of the corona pandemic. Now factories, businesses and logistics are operating flat out again to meet increased demand. However, the extent to which growth will continue also depends on how fast acute shortages in some links of the logistics chain can be reduced. Nevertheless, the port of Rotterdam wants to facilitate this growth as much as possible. We are committed to good jobs for current and future generations, and to future earning capacity in the Netherlands. At the same time, we are investing in the transition to a more sustainable energy system, with more green hydrogen and lower carbon emissions.”