Dutch seaports processed a record volume of goods in 2018 as the throughput of containers increased the most, reported the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the total volume of incoming and outgoing cargo shipments to and from Dutch seaports reached a historic high of almost 605 million tonnes in 2018.
"This is an increase of over 1.5 percent relative to 2017. At 4.5 percent, container transhipment saw the highest increase," CBS said.
Two-thirds of cargo handling in Dutch seaports consisted of unloaded goods in 2018. Three-quarters of these goods concerned dry bulk (ore, coal and agricultural products) or liquid bulk (crude oil and petroleum products). Incoming container shipments increased by 6 percent. Total weight of all loaded cargo grew by 1.3 percent.
Over the past two decades, outbound cargo shipments from Dutch seaports have more than doubled. Inbound shipments have risen by more than one-quarter over the same period.
The share of containers in total cargo handling has grown steadily from 14 percent in 1998 to 21 percent twenty years later. Inbound and outbound flows are more or less equal in terms of size and trend. Container handling was up by 4.5 percent in 2018. Incoming container shipments increased by 6 percent and outgoing shipments by nearly 3 percent.
The weight of transshipped bulk goods did not increase in 2018. Tonnage of unloaded dry and liquid bulk rose; outbound liquid bulk was up by over 2 percent. Outbound dry bulk declined by almost 12 percent.
Three-quarters of goods are loaded and unloaded in the Port of Rotterdam, which also includes the ports of Moerdijk, Dordrecht and Vlaardingen. Last year, both flows were up by around 1 percent.
More than 16 percent of goods are handled in the Amsterdam port area (Amsterdam, Velsen/IJmuiden, Beverwijk and Zaanstad). Throughput rose by 1 percent.
The number of unloaded goods in the seaports of Zeeland Seaports (Flushing and Terneuzen) and Groningen Seaports (Delfzijl and Eemshaven) was up by more than 10 percent in 2018.