Rotterdam also feeling the impact
It has been a difficult start of the year for Rotterdam, too. 113.6 million t of freight passed through the port in Q1/2022, 1.5% less than the 115.2 million t in Q1/2021. While the throughput of mineral oil products and iron ore declined, the handling of LNG and other liquid and dry bulk went up.
Falling transhipment volumes (-21.5% to 6 million t) led to lower throughput in the container segment (-5.4% to 35.6 million t). Teu volumes dropped by 1.4% to 3.6 million teu, since more empties were transported. In the port of Rotterdam last year, 62 million t of almost 470 million t of throughput and 8% of container handling was Russia-oriented (13%).
As the war in Ukraine only began in late February, the impact on throughput volumes in the first quarter was still limited. Meanwhile, the impact of the sanctions and of the decisions of individual companies to stop trading with Russia, has become noticeable in almost all sectors.
Despite the high prices, demand for raw materials has soared. Total throughput in the breakbulk segment (roll-on/roll-off and other breakbulk) increased by 19% to 8.4 million t. Ro-ro throughput (+20.4% to 6.7 million t) went up, also due to high demand from UK. (sh)