IMDO Shipping Review: Container Market Idle, Rotterdam Europe’s Top Tonnage Port, Short Sea Sector Soft Activity and more

27th May 2014

#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below.

Container Market: Idle box - fleet falls but overcapacity prevalent - The idle containership fleet has edged below 2% of the overall fleet for the first time since last September. Figures from Lloyd's List Intelligence show that total capacity of inactive vessels fell to 335,640 TEU last week, standing lower than for the corresponding week over the last two years, when 2.6% of the fleet was idle.

Rotterdam Port: Volume increases maintain Europe's top spot- The Port of Rotterdam maintained its position as Europe's largest tonnage port in 2013, with throughput totalling some 440.5m tonnes. Rotterdam experienced a slight increase in overall throughput as dry bulk volumes rose amid declining liquid cargoes. Dry bulk volumes increased strongly, rising 12.8% from 2012 to 89.2m tonnes, with particularly noticeable growth of around 20% in coal throughput to 30.7m tonnes.

Short Sea Market: Weekly update - The European Short Sea Bulk market saw flat to softer activity last week according to H.C. Shipping & Chartering's latest report. The market remained on its same trajectory, experiencing the continued downward trend that started developing in early April which has since become prevalent. The supply/demand balance is reportedly skewed with large volumes of spot tonnage available but struggling to find cargoes.

For more on each of the above and other stories click the PDF downloadable IMDO Weekly Markets Review (Week 21). In addition to coverage on Afloat.ie's dedicated Ports & Shipping News section.

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About The Author

Jehan Ashmore

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Jehan Ashmore is a marine correspondent, researcher and photographer, specialising in Irish ports, shipping and the ferry sector serving the UK and directly to mainland Europe. Jehan also occasionally writes a column, 'Maritime' Dalkey for the (Dalkey Community Council Newsletter) in addition to contributing to UK marine periodicals.

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