Decline in oil and oil products depresses throughput in the port of Rotterdam in first quarter of 2025

Total throughput in the port of Rotterdam fell by 5.8% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year. In the first three months of this year, throughput was 103.7 million tonnes compared to 110.1 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2024. The decline is mainly due to less throughput of crude oil and oil products, iron ore and coal. The throughput of agribulk, other dry bulk goods and containers increased. Import duties imposed by the United States on goods exported from Europe had yet to have an effect on first-quarter throughput.

Boudewijn Siemons, CEO of Port of Rotterdam Authority: “The first three months of this year were characterized by a high degree of volatility in world trade as a result of threatened import duties in the United States and conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. This volatility has led to uncertainty among companies in the areas of trade and investment. We see this reflected in throughput volumes and the willingness to invest. In these uncertain times, it remains as important as ever that, together with national and European governments, the Port of Rotterdam continues to work towards a competitive European investment climate.”

Dry bulk

The throughput of dry bulk fell by 8.6% compared to the first quarter of 2024. The main reason for the decline is the sharp contraction in the throughput of iron ore and scrap by 28.1%. Two million tonnes less iron ore were handled in the first three months due to a decline in demand for iron ore for steel production, caused by lower production levels in the steel industry. Coal throughputs decreased by 17.3% to 4.5 million tonnes, in line with the past few quarters, due to the ever-decreasing share of coal in power generation. The throughput of agribulk increased by 22.7%, as did the throughput of other dry bulk by 44.1%. This increase is mainly due to the commissioning of a new dry bulk terminal in Rotterdam.

Liquid bulk

Liquid bulk throughput declined by 8.8% to 48.0 million tonnes. This decline of 4.6 million tonnes was caused by less throughput of crude oil, mineral oil products and other liquid bulk. Lower refining margins in north-western Europe have resulted in less demand for crude oil from refineries. For this reason, the supply of crude oil decreased by 1.1 million to 24.7 million tons. The demand for mineral oil products also decreased in the first quarter of this year by 20.1% and 2.9 million tonnes. The margins for diesel and kerosene were higher in Asia, which meant that more was exported to Asia from the Middle East and India instead of Europe.

Containers and breakbulk

In terms of TEU (the standard unit for containers), container throughput increased by 2.2% to 3.3 million TEU in the first quarter. In terms of tonnage, throughput shows a decrease of 1.1% compared to the same period last year. This difference is caused by an 8.1% decrease in the export of full containers. Export containers are heavier, which means that the average weight per container is lower. The decrease in the number of export containers is a result of the weak market position of the European industry and a decrease in the number of transhipment containers that were transshipped in Rotterdam. Bad weather in January and operational disruptions at the HPD2 terminal led to fewer ship visits, delays, and lower productivity in the first quarter. The situation improved during the first quarter, and productivity in March was higher than in January and February.

Throughput on the transatlantic route fell by 23.1% in the first quarter compared to last year because two services were moved to other ports due to limited capacity at the terminals in Rotterdam. Throughput from Asia increased by 8.4% in the first quarter due to more consumer products being imported.

Total breakbulk throughput (Roll-on/Roll-off and other breakbulk) increased by 0.6% to 7.8 million tonnes. RoRo throughput fell by 1.8% to 6.2 million tons. RoRo cargo is suffering from strong competition from road transport due to low rates and low economic growth in the United Kingdom. Other general breakbulk rose by 11.2% to 1.6 million tonnes. The increase was partly due to the throughput of tubular piles for the Porthos project.