Look at the changes of shipping industry from the changes of the throughput of Rotterdam Port

Forwarded from Jiuzhou Logistics Network 2022-10-31

In the first nine months of 2022, the freight volume of Rotterdam Port is almost the same as that of the same period last year: 351 million tons (+0.3%). However, there are some potentially significant differences, especially due to the war in Ukraine, sanctions against Russia and changes in global energy flows. For example, as a substitute for Russian natural gas, the import of coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) is much higher. The volume of containerized cargo decreased, especially as a result of trade losses with Russia.

Allard Castelein, CEO of Rotterdam Port Authority, said: "The total cargo throughput makes the port business look as usual, but from the performance of LNG and coal, we can see that the energy pattern has changed dramatically. Based on the high energy prices, the energy intensive chemical industry is going through a difficult period. In the long run, the faster energy transformation has reduced our dependence on geopolitical development. In the short term, we must do our best to retain the transformation that is extremely important to society Industry. "
Dry bulk cargo
The throughput of iron ore and waste goods decreased sharply by 17.9%, and that of agricultural products also decreased by 14.8%. The former is caused by economic weakness, while the latter is based on the world's harvest. High energy prices also play a role in the processing of agricultural products. Coal freight volume increased by 24.8%, mainly due to more coal used by power plants. Other dry bulk goods, such as raw materials and construction materials, also rose significantly by 22.6%. The total throughput of dry bulk cargo increased by 2.9%.
Liquid bulk cargo
The total throughput of liquid bulk cargo increased by 3.9%. The volume of refined oil products decreased by 13.1%, especially due to the decrease of fuel oil supply in Russia, but the volume of other goods increased: crude oil increased by 5.4%, and other liquid bulk cargo increased by 18.4%. All other liquid bulk sectors showed growth in all categories: including chemicals, biofuels, vegetable/animal oils and fruit juices. However, the throughput of LNG increased very strongly, up to 73.8%. The United States and other countries have supplied more LNG to replace the Russian natural gas that was previously piped to Northwest Europe.
Container
In the first nine months, the total weight of container cargo decreased by 8.6%, while the container volume (TEU: 20ft TEU) decreased by 4.4%. Due to the sanctions, the container transport between Russia and Rotterdam almost came to a standstill. In the past few years, about 8% of the container traffic in Rotterdam Port has been related to Russia. The difference between the weight per ton (- 8.6%) and the volume per TEU (- 4.4%) is due to a considerable proportion of empty containers entering Rotterdam. Because many ships did not arrive on time, and because of the capacity limit of the terminal, container logistics is still hampered by interruption, but the reduction of cargo volume does make the logistics problem gradually smaller. In addition, container freight rates also declined significantly. The throughput of ro ro cargo and other groceries increased by 15%.
The macroeconomic environment generally looks bleak, based on Ukraine's continued war, inflation and deterioration of the economic environment. Nevertheless, the Rotterdam Port Authority expects that the freight volume in 2022 will be the same as last year. In view of the extremely challenging situation faced by almost all industries, this will become a remarkable performance of Rotterdam's business community.