Excluding the April-September period last year, when the activity had risen from the sharp decline determined in the same period of 2020 since the Covid-19 pandemic, in recent quarters the traffic in goods in the port of Rotterdam, which is the main European stopover by volume of eventful cargoes, marks limited trend percentage changes and so was also in the third quarter of 2022 when 117.56 million tonnes were handled, on -0.8% percent less than in the July-September period of last year. A decline that has been determined by the reduction of cargo at boarding which amounted to 33.88 million tonnes (-6.8%), continuing a negative trend in place since the last quarter of last year. The goods at the landing rose by 1.9% percent to 83.68 million tonnes.

In addition, the decline blamed in the third quarter of this year was generated by container traffic that was 35.75 million tonnes, with a noticeable contraction of -8.0% per cent, volume that was made with an handling of containers equal to 3.72 million teu (-4.5%). A reduction in containers that the Port Authority of Rotterdam specified was mainly caused by the loss of volumes with Russia for the application of sanctions, which in recent years accounted for about 8% percent of the total. The other miscellaneous goods grew by 11.2% to 8.85 million tonnes, of which 6.90 million tonnes of rotatable (+ 11.5%) and 1.95 million tonnes of other cargo (+ 10.0%).

In addition, the traffic of bulk liquids with a total of 52.49 million tonnes (+ 2.5%), of which 25.61 million tonnes of crude oil (+ 7.8%), 14.25 million tonnes of refined petroleum products (-19.5%), 9.21 million tonnes of tons of liquefied natural gas (+ 157.0%) and 9.42 million tons of other liquid bulk bulk (+ 10.7%). Almost stable the dry bulk data with 20.46 million tonnes handled (+ 0.1%), including 7.12 million tonnes of coal (+ 15.7%), 6.85 million tonnes of iron ore and scrap (-12.7%), 2.07 million tonnes of agricultural bulk (-14.3%) and 4.42 million tonnes of other goods (+ 9.6%). The substantial increases in the volumes of liquefied natural gas and coal, the Dutch port authority explained, are the effect of new imports as an alternative to Russian natural gas.

In this regard the CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, Allard Castelein, noted that if " the overall volume makes it seem that the port activity is normal, however the big changes, especially with regard to the Gnl and coal, indicate that the energy landscape has radically changed. With high energy prices, the chemical industry, in particular, which is energy-intensive, is going through difficult times. If a faster energy transition makes us less dependent on long-term geopolitical developments-he noted Castelein-in the short term we have to do everything we can to safeguard the chemical industry, which is so important to the our company ".

In the first nine months of 2022 the Dutch port climber globally handled 351.03 million tons of cargo, with a 0.3% percent progression over the same period last year, of which 249.15 million tons of cargo at the landing (+ 2.9%) and 101.89 million tonnes at embarkation (-5.6%). The overall figure of containerized loads was 106.79 million tonnes (-8.6%) with an eventful container handling of 11.00 million teu (-4.4%). The volumes of rotatable and other miscellaneous goods both recorded 15.0% million and 5.81 million tonnes, respectively, and recorded a total of 15.0% million. In the liquid bulk sector, the total was 157.95 million tonnes (+ 3.9%), of which 78.17 million tonnes of crude oil (+ 5.4%), 42.07 million tonnes of refined petroleum products (-13.1%), 8.62 million tonnes of Gnl (+ 73.8%) and 29.09 million tons of other loads (+ 18.4%). Solid bulk reinfuses amounted to 59.82 million tonnes (+ 2.9%), including 21.69 million tonnes of coal (+ 24.8%), 18.77 million tonnes of iron ore and scrap (-17.9%), 5.93 million tonnes of agricultural bulk (-14.8%) and 13.44 million tons of other bulk (+ 22.6%).

The Rotterdam Port Authority predicts that in 2022, the volume of traffic will be similar to the one handled last year and, given the current difficult circumstances, it would be a remarkable performance for the business community in Rotterdam ".