Oil still flows at Rotterdam

25.07.2016. Compared with an exceptionally good first half of 2015 (when throughput increased by 6.8 percent), port of Rotterdam handled 3 percent less cargo in the first six months of 2016.
Although the port handled a slightly lower volume of liquid bulk (-1.1 percent), the volume of crude oil and oil products put through so far in 2016 is still at an historical high, the port authority said.
Over the past six months, the port has taken a number of concrete steps in the field of energy transition and digitisation, two developments which the port believes will be particularly relevant to its business. The port says it is favourably positioned to make major strides in both areas. The sheer scale of Rotterdam’s energy and chemical cluster – as well as the size of it is logistics flows and the fact that a number of leading companies are located in the port area – makes for a good starting position, whether the plan is to tap into new options for increasing efficiency, to develop bio-based production, take advantage of residual heat, capture and store CO2 emissions or organise logistics processes more efficiently with the aid of smart IT applications, Rotterdam reckons.