Container throughput at the Port of Rotterdam fell by 5.5 per cent in part due to the drop in traffic from Russia.
The Port of Rotterdam handled 467.4 million tonnes in 2022, reflecting a marginal decrease of 0.3 per cent from 2021 when 468.7 million tonnes were handled.
Container throughput fell by 5.5 per cent mainly because container traffic to and from Russia came to a virtual standstill after the invasion of Ukraine, Port of Rotterdam reported.
Imports of LNG, mainly from the USA, increased by 63.9 per cent as an alternative to Russian gas.
Coal imports rose by 17.9 per cent as primarily German coal-fired power plants were used more.
Companies reduced imports of Russian oil and coal, and succeeded in importing them from elsewhere, according to the port.
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Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, said: “The war and the sanctions led to changes in energy flows around the world and high energy prices, and therefore high inflation and the weakening of the economy.”
Port of Rotterdam’s revenue rose by 6.9 per cent to €825.7 million ($876.9 million).
This report comes a day after it was announced that the Port of Rotterdam will implement PortXchange EmissionInsider to support the port’s ambition to improve its emissions-tracking practices and use reliable real-time data to analyse its carbon footprint.
In January 2023, the Port of Rotterdam launched a digitised solution for container shipping operations.
