Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges ports have seen a significant decline in container volumes this year, with a 7.2% and 6.8% drop, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Challenges and Trends
The withdrawal of Russian container volumes has left Northern European ports with a cargo shortage, resulting in an 8.1% volume decrease for Rotterdam in H1 and a 5.5% decline for Antwerp-Bruges.
Despite ongoing downward trends in container volumes, there’s a slight improvement in Rotterdam’s figures, with a 7.2% drop in nine months compared to an 8.1% decline in the first half of the year.
Cargo decline
Notably, general cargo experienced the most significant decline at 13.7%, while ro-ro cargo fell by 3.8% over the nine-month period.
Antwerp-Bruges CEO Jacques Vandermeiren said:
“The continued economic and geopolitical concerns have been visible in the figures for several quarters now. The competitiveness of European industry is under pressure due to high energy, raw materials and labour costs combined with low global demand.
“The indicators do not yet show any improvement for the near future, and container throughput will still be impacted in the fourth quarter by cancelled voyages from the Far East.”
Market Share
- Antwerp-Bruges reported an increase in its market share within the Hamburg-Le Havre cluster.
- Meanwhile, Hamburg experienced a significant 14.6% drop in container volumes during the first half of 2023.
- Russian ports are benefiting from embargoed container volumes, with Global Ports reporting a 13.4% year-on-year increase in throughput for the first nine months of 2023, totaling 1.19 million TEU.
This growth is attributed mainly to increased cargo volumes at its Baltic terminals, which saw a remarkable 450% increase in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2022 and a 41% increase from the second to the third quarters of this year.
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Source: The Load Star
