Dry bulk throughput falls at NSC ports

Dry bulk throughput at ports in the North Sea Canal Area, which includes the ports of Amsterdam, IJmuiden, Beverwijk and Zaanstad, fell in 2015, resulting in a fall in total throughput for the first time “in years”, according preliminary figures released by Port of Amsterdam.

Coal transhipment was particularly weak, falling by 11% to 17.3 million t. Agribulks were also down by 6% to 7.4 million t, while other dry bulks – including ores and fertilizers – did grow by 9% to 8 million t.

Overall, Port of Amsterdam – the largest port in the North Sea Canal Area – saw throughput fall by 1.8% to 78.4 million t. This was partially offset by increases in the tonnages handled at the other three ports with IJmuiden up 2% to 17.9 million t, Zaanstad up 47% to 340 000 t and Beverwijk up 44% to 343 000 t.

The fall in throughput comes despite record handling figures in 1H15 as 2H15 lagged behind expectations, explained Dertje Meijer, CEO of Port of Amsterdam.

“This relates to an extremely mild winter weather, which meant less coal was needed to power plants,” Meijer said, adding that he did not see this as a trend and that the port expected to return to growth in 2016.

Edited by Jonathan Rowland.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/handling/18012016/dry-bulk-throughput-falls-at-north-sea-canal-area-ports-2016-64/