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The Port of Rotterdam saw record cargo throughput of 322 million tonnes in 2000, up 6.1% on 1999 and 8 million tonnes up on the 1998 record of 314 million tonnes. Coal transhipment were up 26.5%, ore and scrap up 21.5%, oil and oil products up 14.8% and other liquid bulk (mainly chemicals) up 10.8%.

One disappointment was that container figures remained virtually stable (down 1.7%) for the first time in the port's history, due mainly to re-routing by Maersk Sealand and capacity problems and a reorganisation at ECT, the market leader.

Willem Scholten, chairman of Rotterdam Municipal Port Management, pointed out that, despite the dip from 6.4 to 6.3 million TEU, in the past seven years container throughput had continued to develop in line with the highest growth forecasts from the Netherlands' Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

"Next year I expect at least part to the diverted cargo back in Rotterdam," he said. "Nor has the market lost its confidence in Rotterdam. That is apparent, for instance, from the construction of the 1.4 billion guilder P&O Nedlloyd/ECT container terminal in the Maasvlakte port area, which will start next year."

The terminal will be constructed at the only remaining spot in the port where deep draught container ships can be handled. "A second Maasvlakte is therefore more urgent than ever."

Dry bulk

Dry bulk made a major contribution to the new cargo throughput record. For example, incoming shipments of ore increased by 8 million tonnes to 45 million. Last year was consequently a record year for the steel industry, with some 752 million tonnes of steel products being sold worldwide 40 million tonnes more than in 1999. The German steel industry led the way in Europe, increasing sits iron ore imports by 22%. Scrap exports did equally well (up 8% to 4 million tonnes), as the weak euro boosted the position of European scrap dealers.

There was also less competition from Russia and the Ukraine where domestic demand took off. Incoming shipments of coal were up 5 million tonnes on 1999, amounting to 22.1 million tonnes.

This was clearly the result of the liberalised energy market in 1999, the Netherlands imported quite a bit of energy from France and other countries, but in 2000 Dutch coal fired power stations recovered to a favourable level of production. On balance, marine imports of coal scarcely increased in Europe, while outgoing shipments of coal mainly transhipped to the UK) fell owing to a larger volume of direct import via British sea ports and fierce competition from other ports.

The quantity of other dry bulk goods was stable at 11.5 million tonnes, with Rotterdam handling more minerals, sand and gravel for the steel, building and chemical industry. The only dry bulk category in which Rotterdam saw a decline was agribulk (grains and feeds, down 14.5%).

After 1999's recovery, the downward trend was resumed; the main culprits were shrinking herds and the declining volume of meat consumption. There were, however, a few positive notes: wheat and corn were received from other ports and Brussels banned animal ingredients in mixed feeds, increasing the demand for soya pellets (a byproduct of soya beans).

Liquid bulk

Crude oil once again accounted for the single biggest flow of goods in Rotterdam in 2000, with the port handling 97.5 million tonnes, 2.7% more than the previous year. Oil throughput had hit bottom in the first half of 2000 due to the high price of oil, but as stocks became extremely low in the summer, the inflow began to increase in the second half of the year.

The quantity of oil products rose by 14.8% to 24.8 million tonnes. The recovery of the Asian, American and European economies resulted in an increase in exports in particular, with the weak euro also playing a role.

The Rotterdam refineries benefited from the high price of oil products: the margin on a 159-litre barrel of crude oil increased sixfold to about NLG 9.25. It was not a shortage on the oil market but slumps in refinery capacity elsewhere in the world and logistical problems that drove up the price of fuel.

The chemical sector in the Netherlands worked at full steam, with turnover rising by 18% to NLG 70.8 billion, and the level of investment rising by 12% to NLG 4.8 billion. Rotterdam saw important investments being made by Lyondell, which built a butane diol plant in the Botlek port area, and by Lyondell and Bayer, which together built a PO11 plant (NLG 1.5 billion) in the Maasvlakte port area. Throughput of other liquid bulk(mostly chemicals) increased by 10.8% as a result, to 25.3 million tonnes.

General cargo

Although the number of containers handled in Rotterdam rose slightly in the first six months of 2000, the ground covered was lost again in the second half of the year. Taken over the entire year, container throughput was down 1.7% on 1999 to 65.1 million tonnes.

Maersk/Sealand decided to reroute shipments via Bremerhaven for the time being, partly because of start-up problems at its own terminal in the Maasvlakte port area.

Grand Alliance and United Alliance also rerouted feeder strings or allocated more containers to other ports in their deep-sea strings. These companies cited ECT's current quality/price ratio as an important reason.

The stevedoring company expects that its problems will be a thing of the past next year. Ro/ro traffic increased by only 0.6% to 10 million tonnes, a marginal rate of growth that can be attributed mainly to problems at HRS, which has since gone bankrupt Stena Line and North Sea Ferries, on the other hand, ordered new cargo ferries worth hundreds of millions of guilders (the Stena Britannica was commissioned in October), while DFDS Tor Line now located in the Waalhaven port area-is planning to build its own terminal in the Maasvlakte area next year. Other general cargo (for example pallets, bales and metal ingots) counteracted the trend by rising by 5.7% to 8.7 million tonnes. Increases were seen in particular in metals, non-ferrous products and project cargo.

The number of incoming LASH barges (mostly paper and pulp) rose sharply, but vegetables and fruit saw less favourable results.

Thanks to the strong dollar, many fruit-exporting nations preferred to trade with North America. In addition, many African countries had suffered forest fires and floods.

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