LNG throughput in the Dutch port of Rotterdam rose 3.7 percent in 2023 as Europe continued to boost LNG imports and demand for LNG as fuel increased.
The port, home to Gasunie’s and Vopak’s Gate LNG import terminal, said that total LNG throughput reached 11.92 million tonnes last year, compared to 11.49 million tonnes in 2022 when it rose 64 percent year-on-year.
In the first half of last year, total LNG throughput reached 5.94 million tonnes, up by 9.8 percent.
Incoming LNG volumes rose 2.3 percent in the January-December period to 11.6 million tonnes, while outgoing volumes surged 111 percent to 313,000 tonnes, according to the Rotterdam port’s report.
Total cargo throughput in the port of Rotterdam last year amounted to 438.8 million tonnes, 6.1 percent less than in 2022.
The port said that LNG throughput was higher as Europe continues to import large amounts of LNG to replace pipeline imports of Russian natural gas.
There was also more bunkering in seagoing LNG tankers, it said.
The port said last month that its LNG bunkering volumes reached a record level in 2023 as prices dropped from 2022 and demand continues to increase.
Europe’s largest bunkering port reported LNG volumes of 619,243 cubic meters in 2023, a rise of 53 percent compared to 406,599 cbm in 2022 when volumes dropped considerably due to high prices.
As previously reported by LNG Prime, the Gate LNG terminal handled a record number of vessels last year mainly due to a rise in demand for LNG as fuel.
Including unloading and loading operations, the LNG terminal handled 328 vessels last year.
Gate’s small-scale jetty, which launched operations in 2016, handled record 151 vessels, loading close to 900,000 cbm of LNG last year.