Port of Rotterdam emerges stronger from crisis
The Port of Rotterdam Authority is manager, operator and
developer of Rotterdam’s port and industrial area. The Port
Authority is a public limited company (N.V.) with two
shareholders: the Municipality of Rotterdam and the Dutch
State. The Port Authority operates in two domains: shipping and
the port area.
Its objectives under the articles of association are:
  •   the development, construction, management and operation of the port and industrial area in Rotterdam;
  •   promoting the effective, safe and efficient handling of shipping in the port of Rotterdam and the offshore approaches to the port.
The Port Authority of Rotterdam lets out — on long-term
leases — port sites to businesses, particularly to storage firms,
cargo terminals and the chemical and petrochemical industry,
including energy producers. The main sources of income are
rents and harbour dues.
The Port of Rotterdam Authority invests in the development
of new port sites, particularly Maasvlakte 2, in public
infrastructure such as roads in the port area, and in customerspecific
infrastructure such as quay walls and jetties. In order to
handle shipping as effectively as possible, the Port Authority is
investing heavily in a traffic management system, traffic control
centres and patrol vessels.
A total of 1,239 people are employed by the Port Authority.
 
BACK WITH A BANG: ROTTERDAM BEATS RECORDS
In 2010, cargo throughput in the port of Rotterdam rose to
430mt (million tonnes). This is 11.1% more than in 2009 and
2.1% more than in the previous record year 2008. Imports
increased by 12% to 306mt, while exports rose by 9% to 124mt.
Bulk was up by 11%, likewise containers/breakbulk. Coal
throughput fell by almost 2% while agribulk remained stable.
Other types of cargo showed an increase: ore and scrap (71%),
other dry bulk (22%), crude oil (4%), mineral oil products (7%),
other liquid bulk (8%), containers (12%), roll on/roll off (5%) and
other general cargo (16%).
 
CARGO THROUGHPUT
Hans Smits, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO, says: “This result
is above expectations.; record throughput by the port while the
Port of Rotterdam Authority invested a record sum of €460
million. This year throughput was particularly stimulated by the
15% growth in world trade and the flourishing German
economy. In 2011, government cutbacks will be more strongly
felt throughout Europe. On the other hand, Rotterdam will
continue to feel and pass on the heartbeat of the world
economy. I am therefore cautiously optimistic about throughput
which I expect to grow by 2 to 3 percent to around 440mt”.
 
Dry bulk
The total throughput of dry bulk cargo increased by almost 28%
to 85mt.
Coal throughput fell by 1.7% to 24mt. Steam coal
consumption decreased due to a decline in energy demand due
to the economic downturn and low natural gas prices. In
addition, stocks built up in 2009 were eaten into. Throughput of
cokes coal, around 40% of coal imports into Rotterdam, rose in
parallel with the increasing trend in steel production. In 2011, an
increase in coal throughput up to 25–26mt is realistic because
stocks have been reduced. Structurally, coal remains a growth
product as a result of the mine closures in Germany.
Ore and scrap throughput leapt by +71% to almost 40mt
once again. Demand for steel showed a strong increase largely
due to German automobile manufacturers. Furthermore, extra
ore imports were required for the — temporary — production
of steel slabs by ThyssenKrupp for the United States. In the
fourth quarter, throughput was lower due to high stock levels
and temporary capacity reductions at steel plants. Expectations
for 2011 are moderately positive.
Despite rises in the price of raw materials, a slight increase in
the production of iron and steel is expected. Consequently, a
cautious prediction of a maximum throughput of 41mt is
possible.
Other dry bulk cargo (minerals, ore concentrates, building
materials) increased by over 22% to 12.5mt. This is 4% higher
than the level before the crisis. The most important consumers
in this sector — the chemical and metal industries — recovered
well. The third major consumer, the building sector, is late
cyclical and for the time being continues to generate little
demand. Because recovery of the steel sector is also uncertain,
little growth is expected in 2011 in throughput of other dry bulk
cargo.
Throughput of agribulk (grains, oil seeds, derivatives)
remained stable at 8.4mt. The European 2009/10 harvest year
was good and this always places pressure on imports via
Rotterdam. The 2010/11 harvest year is considerably lower and
this had the immediate effect of stimulating imports in the last
quarter of 2010. On the other hand, the ADM crushing plant
imported less soya from overseas due to imports of rapeseed
from the European hinterland.
Liquid bulk
The throughput volume of liquid bulk rose by just under 6% to
209mt. Imports of crude oil increased by 4% to 100mt, the level
of 2008.
Imports of oil products rose by 1% to almost 43mt, exports
by 15% to just over 34mt. In total, a record throughput of 77mt
(+7%) was (once again) achieved.
Containers and breakbulk
Handling of containers improved by almost 12% in comparison
with last year and at 112mt was once again the most important
cargo category in Rotterdam. Growth in TEU (twenty foot
equivalent units) was back to ‘normal’ increases this year
(Rotterdam is also an empty container hub): up 14% to 11.1
million TEU.
The roll-on/roll-off sector in Rotterdam is virtually entirely
focused on the British market where the economy is still slowly
recovering. This limited the growth of ferry services to 7% and a
throughput of 17mt. This sector is still 6% below the level of
2008 while financial margins are too low. The other general
cargo sector made up for its loss in 2009 exactly with a 16%
profit.
The 7mt cargo consists of the growth products steel and
project cargo, paper and wood products, metals (aluminium,
copper etc.), automobiles and fruit. This year, the port area used
for handling breakbulk was effectively increased by 26 hectares.
 
EMO — full service gateway for coal and iron
ore and future biomass hub
Over the years EMO has earned a strong position in the dry
bulk market servicing power plants and the steel industry in
north-western Europe. Today, the EMO deepwater terminal,
which can accommodate world’s largest dry bulk carriers with a
draught up to 23m, is well positioned to meet developing and
changing trends in raw materials logistics.
The EMO terminal for coal and iron ore is located at the
Maasvlakte in Rotterdam. Since the EMO terminal was
commissioned in 1973, it has been expanded and diversified.
Today, EMO’s advanced facilities and technology offer increasingly
great flexibility in meeting new and changing demands in the
handling of bulk raw materials. With loading and unloading
facilities operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, EMO
currently has an unloading capacity of 42mt (million tonnes) and
an unrivalled throughput capacity of over 60mt a year. Apart
from core business — unloading, storage and loading activities
— EMO looks at every opportunity to provide added value to
existing and new customers.
One of these opportunities is the development of solid
biomass transshipment and storage for (co)firing at power
stations. With its expertise in transshipment logistics,
technology and expansion possibilities EMO is ideally situated to
handle large volumes of solid biomass.
 
GIANT HANDLING FACILITIES
Giant bulk carriers require giant handling facilities. The EMO
quay can accommodate up to four Capesize vessels at the same
time. The vessels can be unloaded simultaneously by the widespan
grab unloaders. In addition the EMO floating crane is used
to unload directly into smaller vessels. To guarantee the
flexibility and continuity of the terminal EMO will invest in a
new, fifth unloader. This 85-tonne unloader, of European origin
and together with two other EMO unloaders the largest in the
world, will be operational around June 2012 and will create an
increase of the unloading capacity of around 8mt per year.
Currently, coal and iron ore for overseas destinations are
loaded at the Amazoneharbour quay into seagoing vessels. A
new loader for sea-going vessels will be built at the
Mississippiharbour quay to replace the current loader. A new
unloading berth served by floating cranes will be operational as
from 2012.

RAIL LOADING FACILITIES
Large volumes of coal or iron ore are loaded into rail wagons
under EMO’s fully automated installations. The exact load of
each wagon is determined in the weighing bunker. These
installations are directly connected to the European rail network
by the dedicated rail cargo line — the Betuwelijn. As from 2006
EMO invested in an upgrading of the coal train loading facility.
The new capacity of a maximum of 11 trains daily has proven to
be an adequate answer to present German market demand. To
meet up to the further growth of the market, EMO decided to
invest in another similar coal train loading facility. With this
investment EMO increases its train loading capacity up to 18
coal trains daily. The new loading facility will come into
operation in the middle of this year.
 
EXTENSIVE STOCK AREA
The terminal’s extensive stock area of up to 7mt for both coal
and iron ore gives the flexibility to handle bulk cargoes for
seagoing vessels, inland waterway barges and rail cars. Today, the
various storage-areas are served by six automated stackerreclaimers.
To handle increasing volumes of coal and iron ore a
seventh stacker-reclaimer will be added to the equipment
around June 2012. It is the largest one of its kind in Europe and
is capable of reclaiming materials up to 4,500 tonnes per hour.
Coal is mostly stored in paved stockyards to prevent
contamination and when necessary, compacted to prevent
spontaneous combustion.
To meet the foreseen growth and additional need for storage
capacity, EMO will expand the site with a phased expansion of
around 23ha on the Hartelstrip resulting in a storage capacity of
8mt. The Hartelstrip is located opposite of
the Mississippiharbour. As from 2012
EMO has planned to bring into use an area
of 11.5ha with railway connection. EMO
has an option on the adjacent area of
12ha.
 
POWER PLANTS
On the EMO site, energy corporation
Electrabel is building a coal fired power
plant. As from 2013, this co-siting between
EMO and Electrabel will be operational.
Simultaneously German energy
corporation E.ON is also building another
coal-fired power plant on its site next to
EMO. This new power plant will be
operational in 2012 and, just like the
existing Maasvlakte plant of E.ON, it will
be fed directly from EMO through the
underground conveyor belt.
 
 
ZHD further expands its investment programme
In 2009 and 2010, stevedoring company ZHD used the
economic downturn to invest in new equipment and
infrastructure developments to prepare it for 2011. New
investments have also already been approved and announced for
2011.
There have been developments for ZHD, not only in its
traditional markets of bulk and general cargo — where there
has been a widespread recovery through the Rotterdam area —
but there has also been growth in niche markets such as scrap,
biomass and waste products. This, combined with ZHD’s
expertise in these markets, has given ZHD’s management the
confidence to invest further in 2011, to enable it to expand its
capacity and increase its volumes.
The investments made in 2009 have already shown clear
results in the volumes handled in 2010, which seems to have
been a record year for ZHD Stevedoring in terms of
throughput.
Further, the recent announcement that the Port of
Rotterdam is set to take over the management of the Port of
Dordrecht gives great confidence to those companies based in
the Dordrecht area that investments in the port, and portrelated
infrastructure, will receive higher priority. It will also
bring more activity to the Dordrecht port area, where ZHD has
its major terminal, and where it plans to make major
investments.
Combined with the investments which began in 2010, the
following new investments (worth a total of approximately €10
million) will become operational this year in Dordrecht and
Moerdijk:
  • extension of the quay wall in Dordrecht, which enables ZHD to open up an additional eight-hectare area for new developments. The quay wall itself was finished at the end of 2010, and ZHD is currently in the process of preparing a new terminal area of at least four to five hectares (including a new entrance to the terminal, new weighbridge, etc.);
  • upgrading of the loading and unloading facilities for waste materials at ZHD’s Moerdijk terminal, including impervious flours and systems to prevent spillage;
  • a new 50-tonne Gottwald HMK 6407 B (high tower), which will be delivered in February in Dordrecht to be operational in March (decided in late November 2010);
  • re-positioning of the Gottwald HMK 170 to ZHD’s Moerdijk terminal, which will increase flexibility for ship-to-ship handling, and also increase capacity in Moerdijk; and
  • new equipment, such as grabs, screening devices, loaders, shovels, etc.
FURTHER INVESTMENTS
In addition to the investments that have already been approved,
there is a major investment plan to reclaim a further ten
hectares, adjacent to the aforementioned eight hectares. This
plan is at the latest stage of study, and several business plans
have already been evaluated.
Assuming normal market circumstances prevail, ZHD expects
to decide this year to proceed with this and to start work on
the development of this area. This will then result in an available
area of about 18 hectares (180,000m2 at the waterfront with a
possible draught of 31ft), which could be developed for large
industrial and distribution projects.
Rotterdam-based ZHD Stevedoring is a family-owned, private
company with more than 40 years of stevedoring experience. It
is active in the total so-called Rotterdam-Rijnmond area, with
terminals in Dordrecht and Moerdijk, but also with its floating
cranes in Rotterdam. ZHD offers services in the handling of
bulk, neo bulk, steel products, coils and containers, including
warehousing and storage (open, covered and floating). ZHD has
both road-mobile and floating equipment and is able to handle
all kinds of product. All ZHD terminals are able to work round
the clock (24/7) and are ISO- and ISPS-certified. Furthermore,
ZHD also has sites available for further (industrial) development.
 
 
E.B.S. new de-ironing service works in storage or via board-to-board
European Bulk Services (E.B.S.) B.V. is a major multipurpose bulk
terminal operator in the port of Rotterdam. E.B.S. engages in
the transshipment, loading, discharge and storage of all kinds of
dry bulk products such as agribulk and biomass products, coal
and minerals.
 
TERMINALS
European Bulk Services (E.B.S.) B.V. conducts its business
operations from two strategically located areas in the Rotterdam
port area, namely the E.B.S. Europoort terminal (at the Capesize
dolphins), and the E.B.S. St. Laurenshaven terminal, a Panamax
terminal (see photo above).
 
SOLUTIONS, SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES
E.B.S. strives to provide tailor-made services in consultation with
its clients and offers:
  • transshipment of Capesize and Panamax carriers into coastal vessels and river barges by means of floating cranes and gantry grab cranes;
  • open and covered storage facilities;
  • blending facilities and weighing services;
  • excellent transshipment facilities via road river and sea; and
  • SKAL, USDA-NOP certificates and GMP+, BLU Code, ISPS and ISO certified administration procedures.
NEW DE-IRONING INSTALLATION
In order to meet the special requirements of the coal import
market, E.B.S. invested in several (electro) magnet systems for
cleaning contaminated coal with iron parts.
The St. Laurenshaven terminal, with a depth of 13.85m, is
perfectly equipped to handle and store, amongst others, coal
from Russian load ports. These load ports have a similar
maximum draught to the St. Laurenshaven. Receivers of Russian
coals can be extra sure of the quality of their coal if their
product is cleaned for metals using the new E.B.S. deironing
installation! The electro magnets are installed in such a way that
the coal can be cleaned either via storage or via board-to-board
discharge operations.
 
ROUND-THE-CLOCK SERVICE
The E.B.S. terminals are available 24 hours/day, from Monday
07.30 till Saturday15.30; and weekends and holidays upon
request.