EMEA News
Port of Rotterdam Throughput Loses 9.3% in First Quarter
Throughput at the Port of Rotterdam sank by 9.3% in the first quarter of 2020, the port authority said Thursday, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit shipping activity and IMO 2020 disrupted fuel oil trade flows.
Total throughput lost 9.3% from the same quarter of 2019 to 112.4 million mt, the port authority said in a statement on its website.
"We are facing unprecedented disruptions and the port of Rotterdam, as a vital process, intends to continue contributing to society," Allard Castelein, the port authority's CEO, said in the statement.
"The impact of a decline in demand due to the corona crisis will become clear from April onwards.
"A 10 to 20% drop in throughput volume on an annual basis would seem to be very likely.
"This will depend on how long the measures remain in place and on how quickly production and world trade recover."
Dry bulk throughput lost 13.9% to 16.741 million mt, while liquid bulk fell by 13.9% to 50.354 million mt.
The liquid bulk category was dragged down by a 32.8% drop in mineral oil products throughput, which the port authority ascribed to a change in fuel oil cargo trade flows at the start of IMO 2020.
"There was a sharp fall in the trading of fuel oil between Russia and Singapore, for which Rotterdam has been the throughput location in recent years," the port authority said.
"Instead, much of the fuel oil went directly from Russia to the United States for refining."
Container throughput was little changed in the first quarter, losing 0.3% to 37.931 million mt.
Breakbulk throughput lost 6.5% to 7.367 million mt.
