Chemical Industry News, Data & Insights

Port of Rotterdam Throughput Declines 2.6% in Q3 2025

Key highlights
  • Throughput in Rotterdam fell 2.6% in Q3 2025, totaling 320.2 million tonnes for the first nine months.
  • Iron ore and mineral oil products saw significant declines, with iron ore dropping 12.7%.
  • Agribulk throughput rose 16.8% due to a new dry bulk terminal.
  • LNG throughput increased by 14.9% as European gas stocks were replenished.

Overall Throughput Decline

Total throughput at the Port of Rotterdam decreased by 2.6% in the first nine months of 2025, reaching 320.2 million tonnes compared to 328.9 million tonnes in the same period of 2024. The decline was primarily due to reduced volumes of iron ore and mineral oil products.

Dry Bulk and Liquid Bulk

Dry bulk throughput fell by 5.6%, with iron ore and scrap dropping 12.7% and 2.9 million tonnes, respectively. Coal throughput decreased by 5.3% due to lower demand for coking coal. Liquid bulk throughput declined by 3.4%, driven by a 17.2% reduction in mineral oil products.

Increases in Agribulk and LNG

Agribulk throughput increased by 16.8%, attributed to a new dry bulk terminal. LNG throughput rose by 14.9% as European gas stocks were replenished, while renewable fuels saw higher volumes due to increased ethanol and SAF throughput.

Container and Breakbulk Segments

Container throughput grew by 3.0% to 10.7 million TEU, despite a 0.6% decrease in tonnage due to an import-export imbalance. Breakbulk throughput increased by 0.2% to 24.0 million tonnes, with RoRo volumes slightly down by 0.1% but other breakbulk rising by 1.1%.