Throughput in the port of Rotterdam declined by 4.1 percent in first half of the year, although ro-ro and other breakbulk staged a small comeback.
Throughput in the breakbulk segment increased by 1.3 percent to 16 million tonnes. Ro-ro throughput increased by 0.9 percent to 12.9 million tonnes. The port said that volumes to and from the UK are suffering thanks to its sluggish economy, although the second quarter showed cautious signs of recovery. Other general cargo increased by 3 percent to 3.2 million tonnes, partly due to the delivery of offshore wind foundations, steel pipes for the Porthos project, and an increase in the throughput of steel plates for the offshore industry.
Container throughput at the port of Rotterdam rose by 2.7 percent to 7 million teu in the first half of 2025. The increase was driven by a recovery in European consumer demand, with imports from Asia rising by 8.4 percent. Trade with North America also grew significantly, up 9.1 percent, largely due to an increase in services following changes to the shipping alliance structure in February 2025. The port noted that it has faced exceptional congestion with the transition to new sailing schedules (phasing in and out of services), high call sizes, changing alliances, work interruptions, and challenging weather conditions at the beginning of the year. This led to increasing waiting times on the land side of the deepsea terminal operations. As a result, the inland shipping sector and road transport in particular are experiencing longer waiting times than usual.
The situation at sea is under control, it stated, with only a limited number of large container ships waiting. The reliability of the sailing schedules has improved and time spent at the quay has decreased since the beginning of this year, the port added. Moreover, water levels on the Rhine and import duties imposed by the USA on exports from Europe and China have not yet had a demonstrable negative effect on container handling in the first half of the year.
The liquid bulk segment declined by 5.3 percent to 96.2 million tonnes.
Boudewijn Siemons, ceo of Port of Rotterdam Authority, said: “In recent months, we as a port have been confronted with economic uncertainties, lagging investments, and disruptions in supply chains. In these turbulent times, as a port, we must ensure that the security of supply of energy, food, and other essential materials in Europe remains guaranteed. It is also very important that industry in the port remains competitive so as not to weaken Europe’s strategic autonomy.”
Despite the challenging economic conditions, a large number of projects are under way to create a future-proof port with net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050. It said the progress has been made in this area during the first half of the year, including continuing construction of the Porthos CCS project. The construction of the land pipeline has been completed and work has now started on the offshore infrastructure. The former gas production platform in the North Sea is being converted for the injection of CO₂ for permanent storage in gas fields under the North Sea. Porthos is expected to be operational in 2026.
