The Port of Rotterdam has announced that its total throughput volume for the first three quarters of 2018 was 0.4% lower than January to September 2017, despite the growth of container volumes.
Overall, 350 million tonnes of cargo was handled in the Port of Rotterdam between Q1 and Q3 2018, a decrease of 1.5 million tonnes compared to the same period of 2017.
According to a statement by the port, Rotterdam expects to make up some of the difference in Q4, meaning that its 2018 throughput will be approximately equal to that of 2017.
In terms of container throughput, TEU volume for the first three quarters of 2018 was 5.7% higher than Q1-Q3 2017, amounting to a total of roughly 10.8 million TEU.
Rob Zuidwijk, Rotterdam School of Management, discusses smart ports in global supply chains in a recent Port Technology technical paper
In addition to this, August 2018 set a container volume record with 136,500 tonnes of containerized cargo handled during this month.
Growth rates in the first nine months of 2018 also differed from trade route to trade route, with container volumes from the Asia-Europe trade lane rising by 10%, while overall throughput on the North American trade lane increased by around 10%.
Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, commented: “The underlying shift in throughput figures that was observed in preceding quarters is continuing as expected.
“I am happy to see that the healthy growth in the Containers segment – one of the Port Authority’s spearheads – shows no signs of slowing down.”
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