Trade conflicts have an impact on Rotterdam's Q3
Combined with the 112.4 million t of freight handled during the third quarter of 2019, the port of Rotterdam saw a total of 353.5 million t being transhipped in the year 2019 up to the end of the third quarter. Compared with the previous year, this represents a modest 1% increase in cargo handling.
While dry bulk, with a total of 55.9 million t processed in Q3/2019, witnessed a fall of 1.4%, the transhipment of liquid bulk totalled almost 160 million t, a volume roughly equal to last year. In this field, LNG took the lead: "The increase up to and including the third quarter amounted to 46% due to higher European consumption of gas produced in the Atlantic region. Previously, this gas was often sold in Asia", the port said in a press release.
Up to and including the third quarter, the transhipment of containers was 3.3% higher in terms of tonnes than it had been in the previous year and at 11.19 million teu, or +3.8% (10.78 million teu). This growth mainly took place during the first six months of the year, caused by an overall slowdown in the growth of global trade and a fall in short sea volume of freight being shipped to the Eastern Mediterranean. (fd)