Posted on March 10, 2025
The Port of Rotterdam has announced that container volume at the port in 2024 increased for the first time in three years, with consumer goods and food products as the main growth drivers.
After several years of decreasing volume, the container market saw a 2.8 per cent growth in 2024.
“This could be a harbinger of further growth, particularly when all the planned capacity expansions have been completed,” predicted Frank van der Laan, Senior Advisor Business Intelligence at Port of Rotterdam Authority.
New shipping partnerships also have a positive impact on Rotterdam, “but we continue to face uncertainties, especially in the geopolitical realm,” van der Lann continued. “Driven mainly by economic growth and increased consumption, volume to the hinterland is rising.”
According to the port, COVID initially caused a brief drop in volume, but consumption soon rebounded with extreme growth and huge volume increases, as consumers were no longer able to spend money on services.
After the COVID-19 pandemic ended in 2022, the situation changed, partially influenced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This resulted in a significant drop in container volume in the port of Rotterdam as 8 per cent of its volume was Russia-related and a large number of containers from Asia were shipped to Saint Petersburg via Rotterdam.
The war also caused an increase in European energy prices, reducing purchasing power, and consequently, consumption. This drop in volume came to an end in 2024. Especially consumer goods, such as electronics, furniture, household appliances and household goods (+17 per cent) and food (+7 per cent) are performing well.
Although overall container volume in Rotterdam increased, the transshipment flows have fallen behind. Van der Laan explains two important causes for this: Worldwide demand has increased significantly, with 7.4 per cent growth.
As a result, shipping companies and terminals saw a major increase in volume. However, this overcapacity vanished overnight when the Suez route became unviable, according to Van der Laan.
“Shipping lines are circumnavigating Africa, which adds 18 days to their total rotation and requires two to three more vessels per rotation. These extra vessels are not readily available, so shifts are being skipped and the load factor of those vessels that are sailing has gone up,” van der Laan stated.
Late last year, the stakeholders of the Port of Rotterdam signed a declaration of intent to collaborate on sector-wide negotiations for container transport by road.
