Container throughput at the Port of Rotterdam has increased by 7.8% in TEU from Q1 to Q3 of 2021.
Container volumes at the port have now exceeded levels in 2019 due to strong demand with customers spending generously, allowing the economy to recover after a dip in 2020 due to the pandemic. However, this increase in demand is beginning to put a significant amount of pressure on the logistics chain.
Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, said, “These quarterly figures show that the economy is continuing its upward path. The whole world was in lockdown last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now factories, businesses and logistics are operating flat out again to meet increased demand.
“However, the extent to which growth will continue also depends on how fast acute shortages in some links of the logistics chain can be reduced. Nevertheless, the Port of Rotterdam wants to facilitate this growth as much as possible.
“We are committed to good jobs for current and future generations and to future earning capacity in the Netherlands. At the same time, we are investing in the transition to a more sustainable energy system, with more green hydrogen and lower carbon emissions.”
The port also announced in its quarterly report that progress has been made in the field of digitalisation, specifically citing that 80% of the 230,000 port calls the Harbour Master receives annually have now been automated.
Further progress was also made in energy transition and sustainability. For example, decisions about the zoning plan and four permit applications for its Porthos project are now available for inspection. This project aims to transport CO2 from the Rotterdam port area and store it in empty gas fields under the North Sea.
Rotterdam’s development in the field of sustainability continues as it was recently announced that Norwegian clean energy company Horisont Energi has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Koole Terminals B.V. (Koole Terminals) to develop an ammonia terminal and storage facility at the port.
