The volume of total cargo throughput in the Port of Rotterdam was 0.8 percent  higher in the first half of the year (233.5 million tonnes) than in the same period in 2021 (231.6 million tonnes).

In the first half of the year, the transport of liquid bulk rose by 4.6 percent. The 4.3 percent increase in crude oil was mainly caused by the flow of Russian oil through Rotterdam to India in particular.

Refineries in Northwest Europe are switching to non-Russian oil, with the result that Russian oil is finding its way to other markets.

The 9.4 percent decline in the throughput of oil products is mainly due to the structural decline in the imports and re-exports of fuel oil. LNG rose by 45.8 percent. There is very strong demand for LNG as an alternative to the natural gas entering Europe by pipeline from Russia.

The 22.5 percent increase in other liquid bulk goods can be attributed, on the one hand, to a shift from transport in tank containers to chemical tankers and, on the other, to stockpiling by purchasers of chemical substances. In the light of faltering transport chains, they are doing this to make sure they have adequate supplies of raw materials.

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