Hit by Hanjin collapse, Rotterdam volume falls 1.9pc in firs

Time: 2016-10-26 13:38
THE Port of Rotterdam container volume slipped 0.4 per cent year on year in the first nine months of 2016 to 9.3 million TEU.
 
Meanwhile the rival Port of Antwerp's container throughput rose four per cent year on year in the first three quarters to total 7,556,386 TEU, expanding the port's market share against rival on the Hamburg-Le Havre range.
 
 The Rotterdam port authority said that while it experienced lower box volumes than last year in the first five months of 2016, it was able to record higher volumes from June on.
 
"This positive trend is expected to continue in the final quarter, thanks to the sailing schedules of new shipping alliances and the further development of the terminals at Maasvlakte 2," the port authority said.
 
The suspension of payments by the shipping company Hanjin led to an estimated loss of 30,000 TEU for the port of Rotterdam, but as other shipping lines are expected to take Hanjin customers, the effect is likely to be temporary.
 
There has been no effect from Brexit in ro-ro volumes (ferries to the UK): the volume in this segment increased 1.1 per cent.
 
A number of ferry operators have announced they will be expanding their services - both to the UK and to Portugal and Spain. While the throughput in other breakbulk fell by two per cent, in September, this segment showed a substantial increase thanks to, among other developments, the increased volume of steel (billets) and monopiles for the offshore wind farms in the North Sea.
 
"Compared to the excellent first three quarters of 2015 (+5.4%), overall cargo throughput in the same period this year fell by 1.9 per cent," said the port authority, adding that the decrease was severe in coal and iron ore.
 
Said port CEO Allard Castelein: "Each of the different sectors in the port has its own dynamic. The 1.9 per cent decrease is consequently the sum of a number of different developments. In 2016 as a whole, we hope to get near the total throughput achieved in the record year 2015."
Contact:  Aster Chen
(86)755-22960225-1225
(86)18820257165
szem22@cntrans.cn
If you cant not get through by phone, please mail to the address above.