Geografia d'Europa: textos de suport

A substantial proportion of the raw materials for the industrial countries of Western Europe pass through the port of Rotterdam. With a bulk cargo throughput of approximately 215 million tonnes a year, Rotterdam is the most important port in the Hamburg-Le Havre range for the transshipment of bulk cargo. Rotterdam in fact receives more raw materials for Germany than all the German ports put together.

The 215 million tonnes of bulk cargo largely concerns imports of raw materials. Almost half is crude oil and a fifth iron ore and scrap metal. In addition, considerable volumes of coal, agribulk (grain, oil-seeds, oils and fats and derivatives), petcoke and minerals are also handled in the port. Large quantities of raw material for fertilisers arrive in Rotterdam as well.

Rotterdam owes its position to the geographical location of the port, its hinterland connections and to the cost advantages which are the result of the possibility of large-scale transport (by ships with a depth of up to 75 feet), transshipment (with cranes with an 85 tonne lifting capacity) and forwarding (by river in push units with a capacity of up to 15,000 tonnes).
 

DRY BULK CARGO

Every year around 80 million tonnes of dry bulk cargo are transshipped in Rotterdam. Ore and scrap metal form the most important goods category here, followed by coal, grain and animal feed, fertilisers and other dry minerals.

Ore

The German steel industry entirely depends on transport via Rotterdam for its iron ore. Four German steel companies have their own terminal (Ertsoverslagbedrijf Europoort BV) in Rotterdam where the greater part of incoming ore (around 41 million tonnes annually) is transshipped. The rest is handled by the EMO terminal on the Maasvlakte.

Coal

Coal is imported at the EMO terminal (20 million tonnes annually) and Marcor terminal, from where it is distributed, for example, to Dutch and English electricity power stations. The big power station on the Maasvlakte receives its coal from the EMO terminal via an underground conveyor belt.

Other dry bulk cargo

Bulk cargo other than ore and coal is handled in Rotterdam by, among others, European Bulk Services (EBS) and Marcor. Spread over four terminals, EBS handles cargo which includes agribulk (grain and animal feed raw materials), chemicals (incl. phosphates) and ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
 

LIQUID BULK CARGO

In 1997, 124.5 million tonnes of liquid bulk cargo were handled in the port of Rotterdam. Important recipients and shippers of crude oil, oil products and liquid chemicals, for example, are the four refineries and the chemical industry in the Rotterdam port area. The relatively cheap imports of crude oil in VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers: large oil tankers) is the basis of the Rotterdam petro-chemical industry.

Crude oil

Most crude oil is discharged on the Maasvlakte (at MOT) and is then forwarded - in some cases following storage - via pipelines to oil refineries in the port of Rotterdam and in Belgium and Germany. Transport of semi-manufactured chemical products to the hinterland also largely takes place by pipeline.

Oil products and chemicals

Rotterdam has a number of specialised tank terminals for the transshipment of oil products and chemicals. These terminals not only load and unload ships and trucks, but also maintain stocks of chemicals for the owners and deliver on demand. Together they have a capacity of more than two million square metres.
 

TREND: PROCESSING GOODS

A steadily increasing proportion of the bulk cargo loaded and unloaded in the port of Rotterdam is processed to varying degrees in the port. EMO, for example, can blend five types of coal for its customers in a blending installation at the terminal so as to obtain a homogeneous quality. EBS has a kaolin factory at one of its terminals where the powder is processed into slurry before being re-shipped. At another EBS terminal there is a customer's briquette factory where briquettes are made for export from the imported raw material.

Tank terminals are also developing additional services, like blending chemicals or even carrying out small processing activities. Van Ommeren, for example, has a 'small refinery' from one of its clients on its terminal. In this way bulk cargo companies in the port of Rotterdam are increasingly shifting from concentrating purely on transshipment and storage to being the 'co-manufacturer' of their customers' products.
 

Fuente:
Port of Rotterdam
http://www.port.rotterdam.nl

Última actualització: 14 de unio de 2002