Other liquid bulk remained the same. Lower amounts of iron ore and scrap (down 7%), crude oil (down 5%) and mineral oil products (down 6%) were loaded and unloaded. Dry bulk handling decreased by 1% to 65 million tonnes while liquid bulk handling dropped by 4% to 149 million tonnes. General cargo throughput rose by more than 10% to 112 million tonnes.
Hans Smits, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority: “Throughput developed well in the third quarter, as compared to the first half year and the darkening economic climate. Now all mood indicators are dropping and the world economy is cooling down. Because of that, export is also stalling. Till now it had been a driving force for our throughput. Not surprisingly, growth will decrease in the fourth quarter. Over the whole year we still expect growth.”