Cargo traffic at the Port of Rotterdam sank by 9.3 percent in the first quarter to 112.4 million metric tons from the same period a year ago as the coronavirus crisis hammered economies around the world and led to tougher border checks.
The port's CEO, Allard Castelein, said today: "We are facing unprecedented disruptions.'' And he expects the situation to get worse.
Castelein says the impact of falling demand on the port will become clearer in April numbers and a "10-20 percent drop in throughput volume on an annual basis would seem to be very likely.''
He says the impact will depend on how long lockdown measures and other restrictions remain in place and how quickly production and trade recovers.
A fall off in container traffic was only felt in a limited way in the first quarter in the Dutch port because ships from China, where the virus originated, take four to five weeks to reach Rotterdam.
In the container segment, capacity between Asia and Europe is being cut by around 25 percent due to a reduction in demand. "This will also be clearly seen in the port of Rotterdam in the coming quarter,'' the port said in a statement.
The main falls in throughput in the first quarter were in coal, crude oil and oil products.-AP
