Rotterdam’s container traffic declined 1 percent year-over-year in the first nine months of 2013 as the impact of a sluggish European economy was compounded by the loss of traffic to its German rivals.
Europe’s largest container port handled 8.84 million 20-foot-equivalent units, compared with 8.94 million TEUs in the first three quarters of 2012.
Overall cargo volume was down just 0.1 percent at 332 million metric tons as sharply higher bulk traffic including coal, iron ore and agribulk offset lower liquid shipments, particularly crude oil.
Rotterdam’s container traffic declined 1 percent year-over-year in the first nine months of 2013 as the impact of a sluggish European economy was compounded by the loss of traffic to its German rivals.
Europe’s largest container port handled 8.84 million 20-foot-equivalent units, compared with 8.94 million TEUs in the first three quarters of 2012.
Overall cargo volume was down just 0.1 percent at 332 million metric tons as sharply higher bulk traffic including coal, iron ore and agribulk offset lower liquid shipments, particularly crude oil.
Deep-sea container traffic declined 2.5 percent following the reduction in ship capacity on some Asia-Europe services, while feeder shipments slumped 9.9 percent as some services migrated to ports in Germany.
Short-sea container traffic jumped 12.7 percent because of growth in trade with Scandinavia, Russia and the Baltic states.
Roll-on, roll-off volume was up 2.8 percent at 13.84 million metric tons, driven by an economic pickup in the U.K., Rotterdam’s biggest market.
Other general cargo plunged more than 23 percent to 3.6 million tons, reflecting a slump in imports of semi-manufactured steel products.
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