This time trans-shipment rose to 51.7 million tonnes, which is a 1.3% increase compared to the same period of 2014. Port of Amsterdam is the largest port in the region and saw its transhipment grow by 0.8% to 42.4 million tonnes. The greatest growth has been in oil products, a field in which port of Amsterdam has traditionally been strong.
Trans-shipment grew in IJmuiden to 8.9 million tonnes (+2.7%), Zaanstad to 200,000 tonnes (+69%) and Beverwijk to 131,000 million tonnes (+17%). The growth in Amsterdam is primarily attributable to the increase in the trans-shipment of oil products by 5% to 22.3 million tonnes. The trans-shipment of coal decreased by 7% to 9.6 million tonnes. Container traffic fell by 17% to 294,000 tonnes (25,170 TEU), the trans-shipment of other mixed cargo, including RoRo, rose b 14% to 1.4 million tonnes.
Agribulk, including fertilizers, decreased by 13% to 4.1 million tonnes. Other dry bulk rose to 3.1 million tonnes and other liquid bulk rose to 1.6 million tonnes, marking an increase of 6% and 20% respectively compared to the same period of last year. 56 sea cruise ships and 982 river cruise ships called at Amsterdam in the first half of 2015, representing a respective increase of 1 and 74 compared to the same period of last year.
Imports in port of Amsterdam decreased by 4% to 27 million tonnes in the first half of 2015. In contrast, exports grew by 10% to 15.5 million tonnes. The North Sea Canal Area also saw imports decrease to 31.9 million tonnes (-9%), while exports rose to 19.8 million tonnes (+25%).
Port of Amsterdam CEO Dertje Meijer: ‘There has once again been growth in the first half of 2015. It is a good result. We are also optimistic about the second half of this year. We expect to once again see growth in transhipment, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years.’