The volume of cargo handled in the port of Rotterdam plunged almost 11 percent in the first quarter of this year as a result of the economic downturn.
The downturn was especially noticable in container throughput, which was down 18 percent, and in the strategically important segments of iron ore and scrap metal, which were down 50 procent from last year.
The port authority is predicting that total throughput over 2009 will be six to ten percent less than in 2008. At the end of last year, a decline of only five to eight percent was expected.
Falling demand for steel
The slowdown is the result of a decreased worldwide demand for steel. "In Belgium two blast furnaces were shut down, which had an immediate impact on the supply [of iron ore] through the port of Rotterdam," says Hans Smits, the ceo of the Rotterdam Port Authority.
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The downturn comes after en eight-year period of uninterrupted growth for the port of Rotterdam, the largest in Europe. In 2008 a record 420 million tons passed through Rotterdam, a 33 percent increase from 2001.
Vulnerable
But Rotterdam's strategic importance for world trade also makes it particularly vulnerable to economic fluctuations. "If world trade declines so does port activity in Rotterdam," Smits said last year. "The economic crisis has hit the port hard," he said at Thursday's press conference.
Total direct employment in the Rotterdam port is approximately 86,000 people. In the nearby port of Antwerp unemployment tripled in the first quarter of 2009. Unemployment figures for Rotterdam were not immediately available.
Tags: credit crunch, economic crisis, Port of Rotterdam