While Russian ports continue to show positive dynamics, the situation with indicators at the European port with which we previously had a well-established container turnover is still not very good.
The Port of Rotterdam reported a decrease in container turnover in 2023:
- In the first nine months of 2023, the port handled 10.2 million TEU, which is 7.2% less than in the same period last year.
- 329.9 million tons were handled compared to 351 million tons in the same months of 2022.
- Ro-Ro volumes (-3.8%) and other general cargo volumes (-13.7%) also decreased due to reduced consumer spending, large inventories and lower investments.
- The total capacity of the breakbulk segment decreased by 6%.
- The volume of dry cargo handling decreased by 11.9%.
- The volume of coal handling decreased by 16.8%.
- In the liquid cargo segment, the decline was 2.4%, while the volume of LNG handling increased slightly by 0.4%, as more LNG was imported to replace Russian pipeline gas.
- Crude oil handling decreased by 1.9% due to an increase in the volume of repairs at oil refineries, which led to a reduction in crude oil supplies.
- «The decline was mainly due to the handling of containers and coal. The handling of iron ore and scrap, bulk agricultural cargo and LNG increased».
And here there is no agenda with «Western decline», but only a look at the reformatting of the port in new conditions.
The loss of Russian volumes naturally had an impact, but to this we can add economic nuances with demand in world trade, as well as «green» movements.
As the port representatives stated, «global demand for freight transportation is still lower than in 2022, due to inflation, limited economic growth, geopolitical tensions and higher costs for services rather than goods. This affects the capacity in Rotterdam and, despite its decline, we continue to invest in a vital and climate-neutral port».
In July, we considered Rotterdam's performance for the first half of 2023.