Port of Rotterdam registers growth despite trade wars and uncertain tariffs

October 22, 2019: The port of Rotterdam handled 112.4 million tonnes of freight and a total of 353.5 million tonnes transhipment during the third quarter of 2019 despite the continuing trade rifts and the ambiguity on the new trade tariffs after Brexit.

Volume growth was mainly driven by containers, crude oil, LNG and biomass.

That is a fall of 1.4% compared to last year.

The faltering economy in Germany has led to less transhipment in recent months.

Transhipment of energy coal fell sharply after a strong start in 2019, caused by the low price of coal at the time.

This downturn was due to the sharply declining share of coal and lignite in German power generation and due to maintenance work at the Maasvlakte power stations.