Rotterdam port says cargo volumes rise, expects slowdown

AMSTERDAM (Reuters): Rotterdam port, Europe’s biggest, reported a 1.7% rise in cargo volumes for the first nine months of 2012 but said on Wednesday that growth will slow down by the year’s end due to the economic downturn.

Cargo volumes passing through Rotterdam - a major transit point for commodities and manufactured goods – totalled 332.6 million tons in the first nine months, up from 326.9 million tons a year earlier.

“Thanks to the oil sector, the throughput in the port in the first nine months was positive,” the chief executive, Hans Smits, said in a statement.

“Growth slowed in the third quarter because of the decline in the global economy. For the full year we still expect a slight growth of about one%.”

Throughput of grains, seeds and animal feed decreased by 15.3% due to high prices caused by drought in major grains exporter the United States, the port said.

Volumes of iron ore and scrap metals were down by 15.7% as large steel manufacturers in Europe scaled back production.

Volumes of crude oil and its products rose 6.3 and 13.3% respectively, mostly due to high production in three oil refineries in the port area.