Port of Rotterdam: Moderate “general cargo”-year
The goods throughout in the year 2008 was characterised by bright and dark sides at the Dutch seaport of Rotterdam. Despite of the poor last three months of the year total volume rose to a record level of 420 million tons, which is 7.2 percent more than in 2007. Import showed a plus of almost 4 percent to 312 million tons, while export showed a 0.5%-decline to 108 million tons. Bulk cargo rose almost 4 percent. General cargo amounted to 133 million tons and thus weighed about 1 percent more than 2007. Other dry bulk cargo (-7%), roll on/roll off (-1%) and other general cargo (-17%) were imported and exported to a smaller amount. The amount of dispatched coal remained stable. The throughput of agribulk (+7%), ores and scrap (+9%), crude oil (+3%), mineral oil products (+1%), other liquid bulk (+10%) and containers (+3%) showed a positive development. Records were broken in three sectors: mineral oil products, other liquid bulk and containers. Calculating in units, the throughput of containers remained stable on a level of 10.8 million TEU. The total volume of container traffic rose 2.5 percent to 108 million tons. Quelle: Österreichische Verkehrszeitung |