This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
20


NETHERLANdS


ISSUE 1 2011


On the cusp of a freighting revolution


With two of Europe’s biggest ports, a major airport and one of the densest canal, rail and motorway networks, the Netherlands can justifiably claim to be Europe’s transport hub. But radical measures will be needed if ever more freight is going to be squeezed through this small but strategic patch of land. Here, modal shift is more than just a conference discussion topic – they are taking active steps to make sure it happens.


Port of Rotterdam: Giant of the North Sea is no dinosaur


Rotterdam may be Europe’s largest maritime gateway, but it is far from being a monolith. A dig below the surface reveals a very diverse range of activities, ranging from small forwarders to massive container terminals. The port is also changing to meet its customers’ future needs.


The port of Rotterdam is not only growing but evolving. Like almost every major seaport in the world, commercial activity has moved away from the city centre towards the sea. The old town centre quays have mostly been redeveloped for housing or offices, with commercial shipping activity now not beginning in earnest until the Waalhaven area, a good 3- 4km west of the city centre. That said, the shipping industry reaches much further into the heart of the city than in many other ports and even the older port areas remain vibrant hives of activity. Many forwarders


still


congregate in the quadrilateral bounded by south quay of the Waalhaven and Albert Plesmanweg, despite the fact many of the 1950s-era warehouses and offices are definitely showing their age and are in some respects unsuitable for modern distribution operations because of their restricted height. But the attraction is that all the main shipping line offices are nearby, which speeds up customs clearance. For all the talk of electronic documents, it is still usually necessary to surrender a paper bill of lading,


so physical proximity still has its advantages. Rotterdam port in fact


encompasses an astonishingly diverse range of areas and activities. Anyone involved in freight will know of course that it is Europe’s largest container port; and ‘Rotterdam crude’ is synonymous with international energy trading. Steel and project cargo volumes are substantial too; Rotterdam is perhaps less well known in these areas mainly because they are dwarfed by the sheer size of the box and energy trades, but they are significant nonetheless. The port area also includes


all the ancillary industries that are needed to keep a major harbour ticking over – anything from anchors to quay wall maintenance. There are even a few residential areas – some of them quite charming and bucolic – in the midst of all this frenetic commercial activity. The port authority has


rethought its land-use policy somewhat, says spokesman Minco Van Heezen. “We don’t want to over-stimulate traffic to and from the Maasvlakte (the new port region built on reclaimed land, a whole 25km to the west of Rotterdam city). If containers are being broken


down or reconsolidated by logistics operators, a single box can generate perhaps three separate truck movements up and down the A15 motorway, so it’s much better to site those activities in the eastern part of the port, or even in places right outside Rotterdam like Moerdijk. And then we will use the container port area for what it is best suited to – rapid loading and unloading of containers to and from ships rather than distribution operations as such.” It also happens that the


container traffic that comes into the older, inner port areas is more likely to continue its journey by truck rather than rail or barge, because the traffic in this part of the port is short- sea or from South America. “It’s all urgent, high-value or refrigerated cargo, so 65-70% is trucked from this area, whereas the proportion of trucked traffic in the outer Maasvlakte area is much less,” adds Van Heezen. It’s also been found that


the Eemhaven rather than the Maasvlakte area is the natural home for short-sea containers in Rotterdam. The Kramer terminal


in Maasvlakte – now the mooted site for the new barge transfer terminal - was not a success and is currently being used for empty box storage. “It was too far from Eemhaven to be competitive,” says Van Heezen. Similarly, DFDS moved its short sea container operations after its acquisition of Lys Line and a buyer is currently being sought – an announcement is expected in about summer 2011. There is less container


stuffing and packing activity in Rotterdam compared with Hamburg and Antwerp, so there are not quite as many small and medium sized forwarders in Rotterdam. It’s fair to say, says Van Heezen, that “Rotterdam is geared mainly to high-volume, full containerloads.” Another factor is that Antwerp and Hamburg deal more with Africa and the Near East, which are typically LCL markets whereas in Rotterdam the emphasis is on Chinese and Asian trade where full loads predominate. That isn’t to say though that


Rotterdam is not to host to a diverse and lively forwarding community. Waalhaven and the


other older port areas in the east play an important role as a ‘nursery’ for fledgling firms which often go on and develop into large operations in the more outlying regions. The port authority is currently trying to


buy up older, smaller warehouses in the Waalhaven South area, demolishing them and merging and developing them as larger sites, though it is a slow process.


continued on next page


Container boom fuels westwards expansion


With Rotterdam’s main deepsea container terminal, Maasvlakte I, essentially full, the port of Rotterdam is looking to the opening of Maasvlakte II to keep it ahead of the game in the box business. Containers, which currently account for around a quarter of the port’s total business, are expected to continue growing in absolute numbers and will probably soon account for around 30% of the port’s total trade. According to the port of Rotterdam’s statistics, container


trade grew in tonnage terms by almost 12% in 2010 compared with 2009 to 112m tonnes while in teu terms it was up 14% to 11.1m teu, heralding a return to ‘normal’ growth rates, said the port. In future years, Rotterdam expects to gain from the increasing trend to mega container ships, as they can call there more easily than in competing ports. Transhipment traffic was also up overall though, surprisingly,


it declined to and from the UK – a sign that the British economy is still not out of the woods. Ro ro business, which is mainly focussed on the UK market, was up 7% though still 6% below the 2008 level. Construction of Maasvlakte II is under way and the port is on


target to complete the first set of quay walls by 2013. These will then be handed over to terminal operator Rotterdam World Gateway, a joint venture between DP World and shipping operators New World Alliance and CMA CGM. The first ships will probably call from about 2014. The second set of quay walls will follow about a year later and will be handed over to terminal operator APM. The entire project is expected to be completed in about 2030-35. Not all the area will be used for container handling; some of the area will be used for industrial purposes. However, given the rethink on distribution patterns, it’s unlikely that all the 150-200 hectares currently earmarked for this activity will be used for such purposes.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36