Port of Amsterdam continues to see strong growth in first months of 2007

The final figures show that 2006 was the Amsterdam Port Area's best-performing year. The Amsterdam Port Area consists of the Ports of Amsterdam, Zaanstad, Beverwijk and IJmuiden. The total amount of cargo handled by these ports grew from 74.5 million metric tons in 2005 to 84.4 million metric tons in 2006. That is an increase of 12.7 percent in 2006 in comparison to the year before. The Port of Amsterdam alone accounted for the lion's share, namely 61 million metric tons -a rise of 7.2 million tons or 13.4 percent compared to 2005. This can be mainly attributed to the growth  in the transshipment of oil products and shipping containers. In the first two months of 2007, the Port of Amsterdam has seen continued expansion of activities.

2006

Amsterdam Port Area

In 2006, Amsterdam Port Area handled 25.4 million tons of oil products - up by 22.3 percent. The container sector experienced spectacular growth, with the volumes handled rising from 65,000 TEUs in 2005 to 305,722 TEUs in 2006. This is a growth of over 364 percent and is undoubtedly the biggest jump achieved last year in the whole world. Other sectors that are on the increase are sand, gravel and minerals (6.5 percent); chemical products (12.8 percent); and coal (3.1 percent).

Market share

The market share achieved by the Amsterdam Port Area among ports in the Hamburg-Le Havre range went up from 7.0 tot 7.5 percent. In doing so, the Amsterdam Port Area has now overtaken Le Havre by a substantial margin to become Northwestern Europe's fourth-biggest port.

Number of ships

The number of ships calling at the Amsterdam Port Area grew from 8,731 in 2005 to 9,027 in 2006 - up by 3.5 percent

The Port of Amsterdam exclusively

The expansion in port activities at the Port of Amsterdam of 13.4 percent can be primarily attributed to the increase in sea transport of oil products (up by 22.5 percent); grains (46.1 percent); oilseeds (80 percent); sand, gravel and minerals (9.3 percent); as well as containers measured in metric tons (253 percent). The total amount of incoming cargo in the Port of Amsterdam was 42.2 million tons, while the total volume of outgoing cargo was 18.8 million tons. Those sectors that saw a downward trend were coal (-2.3 percent), ore (-10.5 percent) and artificial fertilizer (-10.4 percent).

Number of ships

In 2006, the Port of Amsterdam received 5,742 ships. That is an increase of 12 percent compared to 2005, when 5,115 ships paid a visit. Importantly, the ships calling at Amsterdam are getting bigger and bigger, as can be concluded from the records. This applies in particular to ships varying in tonnage from 50,000 to 150,000.

Sea and river cruises ships

Admittedly, in 2006, the number of sea cruise ships visiting the whole Amsterdam Port Region dropped by 18 vessels to 92. However, with the ships becoming ever bigger, the number of passengers carried on board continues to go up considerably. In 2006, the number of passengers aboard sea cruise ships was 190.000 - up by 21,000 or 11.8 percent

The river cruise sector is a rapidly growing market. In 2006, the number of river cruise ships welcomed by Amsterdam alone in was 1,085 (771 in 2005). Impressively, the number of passengers expanded from 96,600 in 2005 to 160,000 in 2006. That is increase of 63,400 passengers or 65 percent! Amsterdam expects to do even better this year, given the number of mooring bookings for 2007.

In recent years, the sea and river cruise market has developed into an important economic pillar of the local and regional economy.

Land leased in Port of Amsterdam

The amount of land leased by companies active in the Port of Amsterdam saw a sharp rise. Over the past ten years, this figure has averaged 25 hectares per year. But in 2006, 80 hectares became available for industrial use (23.7 hectares were created by restructuring existing sites). In 2005, the amount of land leased was 21.7 hectares. Of the 80 hectares made available in 2006, over 77 hectares (more than 97 percent) concerned land adjacent to water, where port-related activities can be carried out.

Investments

In 2006, the Port of Amsterdam invested €38 million in the port infrastructure. The biggest investments related to the improvement of quays  along the Ford site (€5.5 million); the construction of the Texashaven (€2 million); as well as the widening of the quays at PTA (€4.9 million) and at the Afrikahaven Coal Terminal (€6.4 million).

Port keeps growing strongly in 2007

The first two months of 2007 showed that the strong expansion achieved in 2006 was no fluke. Transshipment grew by 24 percent in comparison to the first two months of 2006. That improvement can be chiefly put down to the increased transshipment of coal (43.8 percent), oil products (25.4 percent) and containers (183 percent). Coal is doing so well as a result of strong demand in Germany, which, in the first months of 2006, carried out maintenance work on its power plants and therefore imported less coal via the Port of Amsterdam at that time. The container sector keep putting in a strong performance, with the container ships being handled by the container terminals getting bigger and bigger (having a capacity of 8,000 TEUs).

More information?

Ab van der Neut, Communication Department of the Port of Amsterdam.

Tel: +31 (0)20 5234875 or +31 (0)651171291