North Sea Port transhipped 34 million tonnes of ocean cargo in the first six months of 2021, an increase of 5.1 percent year on year.
Breakbulk transhipment volumes totalled 4.6 million tonnes, a drop of 7.7 percent year-on-year, which was caused mainly by a decrease in the iron, steel and machinery shipments. Container transhipment fell by 4.8 percent to 1.2 million tonnes.
Transhipment of dry bulk rose by 9.6 percent to 17.8 million tonnes, driven by growth in scrap metal, natural fertilisers, gypsum and cement. Ro-ro volumes bounced back strongly with an increase of 39 percent to 1.7 million tonnes. Liquid bulk stayed at a similar level, at 8.7 million tonnes.
The port has hopes of a recovery: “Whereas last year the transhipment figures for the first half of the year were severely impacted by the pandemic, this year we are seeing a partial recovery for the same period. If this trend continues, half of last year’s losses will be recouped this year, before hopefully returning to the level of record year 2019 by the end of 2022.”
