Port of Rotterdam throughput in 2022 virtually unchanged

The war in Ukraine led to unprecedented changes in goods flows last year. At 467.4mt (million tonnes), total throughput in Rotterdam was almost the same (–0.3%) as in 2021 (468.7mt) but the underlying figures show that there were major changes. Container throughput fell by 5.5% in TEU (–9.6% in tonnes). Imports of LNG, mainly from the USA, increased by 63.9% as an alternative to Russian gas. At the same time, coal imports rose by 17.9% as mainly German coal-fired power plants were used more. In line with the sanctions, companies reduced imports of Russian oil, oil products and coal, and succeeded in importing them from elsewhere.

Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority: “2022 was an extraordinary year in many ways. The war and the sanctions led to changes in energy flows around the world and high energy prices, and therefore high inflation and the weakening of the economy. The Rotterdam business sector and all service providers were able to respond quickly and effectively. The war has also demonstrated the risks for crucial sectors of strong dependence on one country or a limited number of countries. In this respect, the war should work as an incentive to make Dutch and European energy and industry more resilient. That will mean accelerating the production of renewable energy and maintaining strategic industries. However, other factors are involved. They include the lack of progress on tackling nitrogen emissions, high energy prices in Europe, and the speed and scale of the efforts of the government of the United States to rack up the sustainability of its industry. They could place the Netherlands and Europe at a disadvantage. We really need to move up a gear in that respect.”

Sustainable Development Goals

The mission of the Port Authority is to generate economic and social value. The Port Authority wants to accelerate the sustainability of the port and act as a smart partner in logistics chains. The Port Authority is aware of its responsibility to contribute to the United Nations’ seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and it uses those goals to make decisions. Investments are needed in digital innovations, infrastructure, education and workforce skills to achieve both the sustainability goals and the other SDGs. In addition, the Port Authority is actively pursuing diversity and inclusiveness policies. This will ensure the recruitment of a more diverse workforce and further enhance the quality of work and decisionmaking, as well as the agility of the organization.

SAFETY, SECURITY AND SUBVERSION

The Port of Rotterdam Authority noted a slight fall in the number of accidents in 2022: 137 accidents compared to 141 in 2021. There were two serious incidents on the water: one with the water taxi and a fatal accident when an inland vessel capsized. To make conduct on the water safer in leisure and passenger shipping, monitoring has been intensified. The Port Authority’s Harbour Master Division has now launched a trial involving the extension of traffic control to include camera supervision. The camera network used by the Seaport Police, the Customs authorities and the Port Authority in the port and industrial area will increase from 220 to 280 cameras in the near future. This will be useful in a range of areas, including the combating of subversion and drugsrelated crime. The prevention of cybercrime also continues to be a strong focus.

Dry Bulk

South Africa, Australia and Colombia. Biomass throughput rose by 13.7%. Other dry bulk fell by 14.2%. The main causes are stockpiling due to the uncertainty of supply lines, and high prices for the shipping of containers: cargo that can also be transported in bulk, such as industrial minerals and fertilizers, is therefore being transported in this way more often.

Containers And Break Bulk

Container throughput fell by 5.5% in TEU and by 9.6% in tonnes. The difference between the two was due to a sharp increase in arrivals of full containers from Asia in the first nine months of the year because of high demand for consumer goods. At the same time, exports declined and so many more empty containers were shipped back. Roll-on/roll-off traffic (RoRo) was 13.5% higher. This figure paints a slightly rosy picture because of the end of the Brexit transition period on 1 January 2021. That led to additional transport in late 2020 and a dip in RoRo transport in early 2021.

Other breakbulk was 10.4% higher. A major factor was the increase in imports of steel and non-ferrous metals. The sharp rise in energy prices made European industrial production relatively expensive, with a subsequent increase in imports of steel and non-ferrous metals from, among other places, Asia, where demand was low due to Covid-19. In addition, high container rates meant that, as in the ‘other liquid bulk’ sector, more cargo was shipped as break bulk.

The dry bulk segment saw an increase of 1.7% to 80.1mt. The agribulk segment is always strongly influenced by harvest yields in different parts of the world. There were reduced imports from Ukraine last year and high energy costs also caused less processing of agribulk. High energy costs were also a major reason for the lower production in the German steel industry. As a consequence, imports of iron ore declined by 15.5%. The throughput of coal, which in addition to being used in blast furnaces is primarily burned in power plants, rose sharply by 17.9%. Coal was cheaper than natural gas and it also reduces dependence on natural gas (in particular from Russia). In order to burn less natural gas in gas-fired power plants, the Dutch government lifted the production cap that had just been introduced for Dutch coalfired power plants. Imports of Russian coal have been banned since August. More coal was therefore imported from the USA,

Progress On Digitalization And Innovation

The connection of new market players led to the optimization in 2022 of the planning tools Routescanner and Nextlogic. Routescanner provides support for sustainable and efficient decisions in container transport by sea (deep sea, short sea, RoRo), inland shipping, rail and road. It now also provides a CO2 calculator for comparing emissions on different routes. The Nextlogic pilot phase concluded at the end of December, and so this integrated planning tool for inland container shipping has now gone live.

Digitalization and other forms of innovation are also playing an increasingly important role in the management of the port area. For example, more and more data are being collected and analysed to optimize dredging operations, and the latest quays have been fitted out with