This growth was almost entirely accounted for by the throughput of oil products (+29.7%), crude oil (+8.3%), containers (+3.7% in TEU) and roll-on/roll-off-transport (+9.6%). The throughput of dry bulk (agricultural bulk, coal, ores) fell across the board. For the first time since 2010, the number of sea-going vessels increased considerably (+3%). In the first half of the year, the port did not experience any significant nautical incidents.

The net result grew by € 3.1 million to € 122.5 million in the first half of 2015. Turnover in the first half of 2015 increased by € 14.7 million compared to the first half of 2014. Both the seaport dues and the revenues from contracts rose. The operating expenses were higher, mainly due to higher running costs (€ 5.1 million). In addition, depreciation increased by € 9.0 million as a result of a one-off depreciation. On the other hand, financial income and expenses were lower due to periodic repayments and an extra repayment at the end of 2014. The income from participating interests rose by € 4.1 million. Total investments are expected to fall from € 189.3 million in the whole year of 2014 to approximately € 160.0 million in 2015.

The total throughput in the Port of Rotterdam increased significantly in the first half of the year. This was attributable to a combination of the trends in various segments. In particular, the increase of mineral oil products by almost 30% (equal to approximately a fifth of the total throughput) had an extremely positive impact on the total growth of 6.8%.

Liquid bulk

The throughput of liquid bulk increased in total by 15.4%. The relatively low oil price resulted in a build-up of stock but, at the same time, was largely responsible for the refineries having considerable margins. This caused the capacity utilisation rate of the refineries to be fairly high, for which large amounts of crude oil were imported. Consequently, the volume of crude oil rose significantly (+8.3%). As substantially more oil was refined in North West Europe and Russia, there was an oversupply of fuel oil in this part of the world. Coinciding with a period when the price of fuel oil was subject to ’open arbitrage’, this resulted in exports to the Far East via Rotterdam increasing sizably. Throughput of fuel oil, therefore, rose by 11 million tonnes, an increase of 50%. The Port of Rotterdam is a turntable for oil products and profits from these imbalances and fluctuations in the market. The import of gas oil and diesel rose slightly while marginally less petrol was exported. In total, the throughput of oil products was 29.7% higher than last year.

Although the extent of throughput of LNG is still modest, it more than doubled in the first six months of the year (+106.6%). The principal reasons for this were the gradual decline of the LNG price in Asia and the increase in the re-export of LNG to industrial clusters in Europe; where there has been a shift from fuel or gas oil to LNG as the fuel for production processes.

Currently, two highly conspicuous investments are the construction of a biopropane unit at Neste Oil’s biofuel plant and the construction of an LNG Breakbulk terminal, both in the Maasvlakte. The latter will be an important link facilitating the use of LNG as a transport fuel. Already, inland vessels and trucks can refuel with LNG in Rotterdam, several inland vessels sail on LNG, and the first sea-going vessels fuelled by LNG, the so-called dual fuel systems, are being launched. The number of inland vessels refuelling with LNG doubled in the first half of the year to roughly 37.

The throughput of other liquid bulk was stable (+0.6%).

Infrastructure

Recently, agreement was reached with the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment to broaden the Breeddiep, an important inland shipping route, from 75 to 350 metres. Preparations, mainly of an official and administrative nature, to deepen the Nieuwe Waterweg are also progressing. When completed, this will enable ships destined for the Botlek area to carry up to 20% more cargo. Both projects are scheduled for completion at the end of 2016.

To solve the problem of the capacity bottleneck at the Caland Railway Bridge, near Rozenburg, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment and the Port of Rotterdam Authority are cooperating on an alternative route – via Theemsweg – for the rail traffic on port section of the Betuwe Route. The European Commission has recently announced it will make a € 60 million subsidy available for this project.