Port of Rotterdam: History, Strategy, and Future Vision

Historical Development of the Port of Rotterdam

The muddy estuary (rotta) of the Maas River became a settlement in the 10th century CE. A few hundred years later, a dam was built in the rotta, giving the fledgling seaport its name: Rotterdam. By the 14th century, the Rotterdam Schie — the shipping canal — had been fully dredged, giving birth to what would one day become the world's most important shipping port ("A History of the Port of Rotterdam," 2015).

Rotterdam immediately gained traction as a pivotal shipping destination because of its strategic location linking England with not just the Netherlands but also the rest of Europe. Trade routes boomed during the Age of Exploration and Imperialism, boosting Rotterdam's significance, especially as the Dutch East India Company dominated global trade.

During the Industrial Age, Rotterdam suffered a major setback as the rotte, its naturally muddy estuary, proved too shallow for high-tech industrial barges. The city responded immediately by constructing a new waterway, the Nieuwe Waterweg, completed by 1872 ("A History of the Port of Rotterdam," 2015). Crisis averted, the Nieuwe Waterweg helped retain Rotterdam's status as one of the world's most important shipping ports. Seamless connections by rail and river ensured Rotterdam would become the world's largest port, a position it occupied for much of the 20th century.

With the Nieuwe Waterweg, the Port of Rotterdam also bolstered shipping ties with the rest of Europe. Since the Industrial Age, the port has made successive improvements to the depth and stability of the Nieuwe Waterweg to accommodate newer and differently sized vessels. In the 1960s, Rotterdam commenced construction on the Gate to Europe (Europoort) complex. Completed in the 1970s, the Europoort also entailed massive land reclamation projects that displaced sandbars to allow for the largest possible shipping vessels in the world ("A History of the Port of Rotterdam," 2015). Called the Maasvlakte, the massive new shipping facility recently received a sister port, Maasvlakte 2. Improved rail and road connections further helped Rotterdam retain its reputation for reliability and shipping capacity.

Current Status and Global Competition

By the time Maasvlakte 2 was completed in 2013, Rotterdam had lost its superlative status as the world's largest shipping port. Nevertheless, Maasvlakte 2 demonstrates Rotterdam's commitment to remaining the largest port in Europe and one of the globe's most important. Currently outpaced by both Shanghai and Singapore, Rotterdam is still the largest in Europe and among the largest in the world, both in terms of its physical footprint and in terms of throughput. The Port of Rotterdam currently occupies about 105 square kilometers (41 square miles). Throughput numbers in 2014 were approximately 445 million tonnes of cargo, ranking Rotterdam eighth in the world. Those figures increased in 2016, when the port saw more than 461 million tonnes of dry bulk, liquid bulk, containers, and breakbulk pass through the Maasvlakte and Maasvlakte 2 (Port of Rotterdam, 2016, "Facts and Figures"). The Port of Rotterdam has more than 20 moorages, over 120 bulwarks, 29 tugboat facilities, six pilot boat facilities, 95 liquid and dry cargo depots, and moorage for both cruise liners and vessels navigating internally (Karan, 2016).

Major competitors to Rotterdam began to emerge in the late 1980s, when Singapore and Shanghai rose to prominence as global shipping ports. Although Rotterdam remains number one in Europe — followed by regional rivals Antwerp and Hamburg — it is China that presents the most significant competition. Of the top ten shipping ports in the world by throughput tonnage, seven are located in China, including Shanghai, Suzhou's river port, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Tangshan, and Qingdao. Singapore ranks third in the world. The only other non-Chinese port in the top ten is Port Hedland in Western Australia, largely owing to its role as a hub for mining and raw materials output.

Although competition for throughput and container volume (TEU) remains strong and will only grow more intense, Rotterdam has little to worry about in attracting global investors. The main reason it remains ahead of the competition in Europe — and contends globally — is infrastructure. Five times in a row, the World Economic Forum has named the Port of Rotterdam the best in the world for sites and terminals such as refineries, utilities, containers, and storage (Port of Rotterdam, 2016, "Facts and Figures"). Rather than focusing on throughput quantity alone, Rotterdam remains dedicated to quality.

Strategy: Logistics, Transportation, and Storage

Since the early 20th century, Rotterdam has built its port around the burgeoning oil industry. Oil and petroleum products, primarily in liquid form, remain the core cargo throughput. Crude oil, mineral oil, liquid natural gas, and other liquid bulk together comprise more than 200 million tonnes per year. Dry bulk — including iron ore, scrap, coal, agribulk, and other raw materials — along with containers comprise most of the remainder of Rotterdam's throughput (Port of Rotterdam, 2016, "Facts and Figures"). Oil and chemical processing drive the port's business, logistics, and supply chain strategies. Due to its reputation as a reliable and strategic port authority and its favorable geographic location, Rotterdam has developed Europe's most diversified and advanced cluster of oil and chemical refineries and distribution networks (Hurenkamp, 2017). Virtually all petrochemical clusters are represented in Rotterdam, including olefins, aromatics, polyurethane, polyester, and chlorine (Hurenkamp, 2017).

Rotterdam has access not only to rail, road, and river shipping passageways linking the port to the entire European continent, but also to 1,500 kilometers of liquid bulk pipelines (Hurenkamp, 2017). The natural setting of the port has enabled it to grow from the muddy estuary of a thousand years ago to one capable of accommodating deep-sea vessels as well as shortsea and feeder vessels, with direct lock-free access and zero draft restrictions (Hurenkamp, 2017). According to Hurenkamp (2017), Rotterdam boasts four "world-scale" oil refineries, as well as "more than 40 (petro)chemical companies, 3 industrial gas producers and 13 major tank storage and distribution companies in the port area" (p. 1). With unparalleled processing facilities, logistics and transportation networks, chemical feedstock, plant infrastructure, and storage facilities, Rotterdam remains critical to Europe's overall supply chain. Logistics infrastructure is internal, with immediate access to feeder services.

Enhancing its transportation logistics, Rotterdam also offers excellent options for storage, warehousing, and distribution. The oil and chemical clusters at Rotterdam include both private producer-built and managed storage facilities as well as independent and third-party storage for oil and chemicals. The diversification of the port's storage sector attracts new investors and expands opportunities for supply and distribution. Total storage capacity for bulk liquids alone is currently 30 million cubic meters, encompassing not just crude and mineral oils such as gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and naphtha, but also edible oils (Hurenkamp, 2017). Rotterdam also offers storage of both hazardous and non-hazardous bulk and manufactured goods, with specialists such as Steinweg and De Rijke operating within the port.

Cold stores provide significant opportunities for fruit and other temperature-sensitive goods. Moreover, the nearby Waalhaven terminals have "reduced truck movements by 40% and significantly cut CO₂ emissions" as a result — in keeping with the Port of Rotterdam's commitment to environmental sustainability in its continued growth (Opticool, 2017).