Data shows volumes fell almost 8% at Dutch seaports last year

According to newly released data by Statistics Netherlands, the total volume of cargo handled by Dutch seaports saw a significant decline in 2023, with a decrease of 7.6% to 574 million tonnes.

Sharp drop in imports from Russia

One of the key trends observed by Statistics Netherlands is that goods arriving from Russia experienced the most pronounced decrease, while shipments from the United States surged considerably. Only 2.7% of incoming goods came from Russia in 2023, while the USA was responsible for 14.8%.

Overall, 396 million tonnes of goods were unloaded, marking an 8.6% year-on-year decline. The volume of outbound cargo also fell by 5.1% to 178 million tonnes.

Dry bulk products

The figures bulk goods witnessed a substantial reduction, dropping by 17.1%.

Within the dry bulk goods category, coal imports faced the steepest fall, plummeting by 32%, notably with shipments from Ukraine decreasing drastically from 8.5 million tonnes in 2022 to just 100 thousand tonnes in 2023. Additionally, ore imports fell by 2.3%.

Petroleum and container shipments

Meanwhile liquid bulk goods, including gas, petroleum, and petroleum products, decreased by a lesser extent. The drop was 3.5% overall, with petroleum and petroleum products specifically falling by 5.1%.

Despite this, there was a notable 61.4% increase in petroleum and petroleum products arriving from the United States, which became the largest supplier in this category.

Suppliers of inbound cargo

When it comes to individual nations, supplies from the United Kingdom fell by 11.1%, and imports from Russia plummeted by 77% due to EU sanctions.

Following the United States, the largest quantities of goods unloaded came from the United Kingdom, Norway, Brazil, and China, respectively.

Container goods also saw a downturn, with the total weight of containerised goods decreasing by 4.6% and the number of containers (measured in TEU) dropping by 6.9%.

Moreover, China remained a significant source, providing more than a quarter of all containers, although the number of containers from China decreased by 5.5%.

Surge in gas imports from the US

Finally, when it comes to gas, imports rose by 25.5%, with the United States accounting for 70% of the total gas received.

This marked a significant shift as Russia, previously the largest supplier, saw its share fall by 61.0%. In 2023, gas imports from the United States increased by 52.1%.