Port of Rotterdam ends the year well

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Dec 2008

Despite a poor last quarter, goods throughput in the Port of Rotterdam increased in 2008 to the record level of 420 million tonnes. This is 2.7% more than in 2007. Imports grew by almost 4% to 312 million tonnes, exports fell by 0.5% to 108 million tonnes. Bulk goods saw a small 4% increase, general cargo almost 1%. Other dry bulk (-7%), roll on/roll off (-1%) and other general cargo (-17%) saw a drop in imports and exports. The handling of coal remained stable. The throughput of agribulk (+7%), ores and scrap (+9%), crude oil (+3%), mineral oil products (+1%), other liquid bulk (+10%) and containers (+3%) saw a positive development. Records were broken in three sectors: mineral oil products, other liquid bulk and containers. In units the throughput of containers remained stable at 10.8 million TEU.
Hans Smits, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority: "The port of Rotterdam has had an excellent year with record throughput, continuing high investments and the start of the construction of the Second Maasvlakte, at the beginning of September. However, it is approximately around that time that the downturn started, at a rapid pace. Obviously this puts things somewhat into perspective, but I remain positive about the future. This is primarily because of the investments: we ourselves are investing four billion up to and including 2020 and companies more than ten. There are as yet virtually no cuts in this respect. In addition, a number of investments will lead to greater activity in the short term. Think of the tank terminals and the "slab terminal". Nor am I pessimistic when it comes to throughput. Rotterdam is one of the most important hubs of global trade. If this decreases, we follow and vice versa. Certainly, throughput will initially fall very substantially in 2009. On average, however, we will be able to achieve 100 million tonnes per quarter and a five to eight percent drop. We would be happy if we can achieve 400 million tonnes".
Dry bulk

The total quantity of dry bulk handled increased by almost 4% to 94 million tonnes. The quantity of coal handled remained constant at 28 million tonnes. Up to September throughput grew by approx. 6%. After this the demand for energy stagnated and, moreover, exports were delayed due to the falling water level of the Rhine. With still large imports from overseas, stocks quickly mounted. As of October the demand for energy and coke dropped strongly. In 2009 the throughput of coke for the steel industry might drop by a fifth. The drop in steam coal, over half of the total, is dependent on the winter temperatures and how much the closing of a mine at Gelsenkirchen will result in imports for Rotterdam.
A total coal throughput of 26 million tonnes in 2009 appears to be the highest feasible.
The throughput of ore and scrap increased by 9% to 43.5 million tonnes. The demand for and production of steel was at a very high level up to September. The downturn was fairly sudden and quick, particularly due to production restrictions in the car industry. The steel industry soon followed, although the ore imports continued for a long time due to the performance of contracts. Arcelor Mittal has in the meantime closed down four blasting furnaces, which until recently purchased 6.5 million tonnes of ore via Rotterdam. It is expected that there will be a drop of  another 3 million tonnes for other customers. The total ore throughput in 2009 would then certainly drop by 20%. Partly due to the big stocks the first quarter will be extraordinarily bad.
The other dry bulk has not been able to compensate the loss of a few big cargo packages, kaolin and marble chips to Antwerp at the end of 2007. In addition, in the second semester it was primarily demand for building materials, approx. 15% of the total, which fell. A fall of the throughput by 7% to 12 million tonnes is related to this drop.
The throughput of agribulk (grains, oil seeds, derivatives) increased by 7.5% to over 10 million tonnes. Because of the poor EU harvest in 2007/2008 a lot of agricultural raw materials had to be imported from overseas. This September the new harvest year started with a much better European production of grains. The import therefore decreased in the fourth quarter and will continue to do so in 2009. Possibly the export of European products to the Middle East, which has suffered poor crops, will offer some solace. For the time being the forecast is that throughput will remain somewhat under 10 million tonnes, which in part depends on the following harvest.
Liquid bulk

The total volume increased by approx. 3.5% to 194 million tonnes. The sector has been doing well for some time and attracts a lot of investments from the oil and liquids industry, particularly tank storage, and the Port Authority. 

The import of crude oil increased by over 3% to a good 100 million tonnes. The growth was primarily realised in the first months of the year and vis-à-vis the period in which the jetty problems started. As of September throughput fell due to the falling demand for oil products and maintenance shutdowns. Due to the recession the demand for oil products will remain low and consequently so will the refining margins. The throughput of crude oil will therefore drop in 2009 in the direction of 95 million tonnes.
Imports of oil products grew by 6% to 36 million tonnes, exports fell by 6% to 22 million tonnes. In total a record quantity of 58 million tonnes (+1.5%) was handled. Although growth was less exuberant than in the past, the sector is holding its own in the face of the falling demand for products. Structurally a lot of movement remains due to regional differences in supply and demand, both quantitative and qualitative. The active trade sector reinforces this. Fuel oil is by far the most important product with probably over 25 million tonnes. Russia remains the main supplier, with Brazil being the 'newcomer'. The import of gas oil profited from supplementing of stocks in Germany and Switzerland.    

The throughput of other liquid bulk, mostly basic chemicals, increased by 10% to the record level of over 35.5 million tonnes. Imports increased by over 9%, but dropped in the last four months. This is probably attributable to the chemical sector which slid into recession. This is not the case with the biofuels ethanol, from Brazil, and biodiesel (a lot of B99 from the U.S.) which generally perform strongly: together from 2.8 to approx. 5.3 million tonnes. More palm oil and sunflower oil were also imported. A change in American government policy may result in the import of B99 falling in 2009. In such case an increase in the intra-European transport is likely. The forecast for chemical production, in Germany minus 2.5%, will certainly entail lower throughput. For all products within "other liquid bulk" together, in the best case stabilisation can be expected.
General cargo 

The general cargo sector had a very lean year with barely one percent growth to 133 million tonnes. In view of the circumstances, the containers did reasonably well with around 2.5% growth (+3 million tonnes up to 108 million tonnes). In numbers, however, only a few tenths of a percent were added, up to 10,830,000 in total. The English, Irish and Icelandic economies started declining early on, causing intra-European traffic to come under pressure. The increase in feeder traffic provided some  compensation. The economic development had a stronger than expected effect on the traffic between Asia and Europe, which even decreased somewhat. In the meantime the capacity on this route has been significantly reduced to limit the losses for shipowners. Container transport with North and South America saw strong positive developments with approx. 9% growth.
In 2008 the roll-on / roll-off sector suffered greatly from the downturn in the British economy, the fall in the value of the pound and the high fuel prices. In this light the drop in throughput by 1% to a little over 17 million tonnes is moderate, certainly when one bears in mind that increasingly more goods are carried by container, on the same roro ship but counted as a container, instead of by trailer. In 2009 a clear deterioration and a 5% drop in throughput is expected. 

Other general cargo, -17% to barely 8 million tonnes, has lost approx. 700,000 tonnes due to the cessation of lash shipping. In addition, the containerisation of fruit and aluminium results in a lower throughput of  'other general cargo'. Moreover, non-ferrous metals are stored longer, a development from the start of this year, reinforced by the economic downturn. This also negatively influences the throughput of steel, until recently a growth market. Paper products form a fairly stable market with slight growth due to the arrival of new services. The outlined negative factors will certainly continue having an effect into 2009, which is why a 5% drop in throughput is expected.

Source: Port of Rotterdam Authority