“The refineries in the Rotterdam complex had to cope with low demand for refinery products in Europe, given a structural overcapacity. At the same time, competition on the world market for refinery products is increasing,” the port said. These were some of the reasons for holding large-scale refinery maintenance shutdowns, it added.

Rotterdam saw a 5.6% rise in crude oil cargo handling in 2012. Overall crude throughput fell 7.3% to 91.1 million mt, with imports down 7.8% in 2013 to 90.6 million mt.

Oil products’ trade “was lively for the majority of the year,” the port said. Imports of oil products in Rotterdam rose 4.2% to 46.8 million mt while exports dropped 1% to 36.4 million mt.

Other liquid bulk saw a 0.2% drop in overall throughput, with chemicals “still suffering from the crisis” and higher import duties resulting in a fall in biofuels’ imports. A positive factor was “the low price of palm oil, which encouraged stock building.”

LNG throughput rose 25% year on year but “due to the high prices of products, imports from outside Europe are still low.” Around 700,000 mt of LNG was handled “thanks partly to regular imports in small vessels from Norway and re-export.”

The port handled 208.5 million mt of liquid bulk in 2013, 2.6% down on the year and less than half of the overall cargo throughput.

Total throughput at the port of Rotterdam rose to 441.5 million mt, flat on 2012.

The “continuing economic slump” was cited as the main reason for the lack of growth.

“Things are exactly the reverse of last year. Where in 2012 crude oil and oil products provided growth, they have failed this year. Now, coal, ore and scrap and agribulk in particular have increased,” Hans Smits, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO said.

“I expect little change in this next year, because the new container terminals on Maasvlakte 2 will become operational from the end of 2014,” Smits added.