May/June 2019
B ULK D ISTRIBUTOR
Ports & Storage
37
Transhipment drives
RoƩerdam growth FERC green light for Eagle LNG
P E
ort of Rotterdam’s first quarter throughput was up 5.1
percent on the same period last year.
In total, 123.9 million tonnes were handled compared with 117.8
million tonnes in the same period in 2018. The increase mainly
concerned the throughput of containers (+7.3 percent in TEU, +5.9
percent in tonnes) and fuels. Mineral oil products, iron ore and scrap
throughput fell.
Container throughput rose 5.9 percent by weight to 38 million
tonnes and 7.3 percent by volume to 3.7 million TEU. This growth is
a continuation of the significant increase realised last year and is
mainly a consequence of a sharp rise in transhipment volumes
originating in Asia with destinations elsewhere in Europe.
Shipping companies operating in three large alliances in Rotterdam
view the Dutch port as an important hub in their networks, which
means an increased concentration of freight throughput. This
resulted in feeder tonnage continuing to increase significantly by
15.1 percent to 7.3 million tonnes.
An increasing exchange is also taking place in Rotterdam between
deep sea services, which enable shipping companies to offer clients
more combinations between loading and unloading ports in Asia
and Europe. Intra-European short sea throughput fell by 7.8 percent
to 6.9 million tonnes due to reduced trade with Russia and lower
volumes to the United Kingdom in January and February.
A bigger imbalance between Asia and Europe is resulting in
significant increases in empty container throughput, leading to TEU
growth being considerably higher than tonnage growth.
In total, liquid bulk throughput rose 4.6 percent to 58.5 million
tonnes. Within this sector, more crude oil (+10.4 percent to 28.1
million tonnes) was transported than in the first quarter of last year.
This difference concerned the increased supply of oil from the US.
This oil is relatively cheap and ensures higher margins for the
refineries. The throughput of mineral oil products fell (-7.4 percent)
due to reduced trade in fuel oil between Russia and Asia.
Once again, in the first quarter LNG throughput was much higher
than last year (+143 percent to 1.8 million tonnes), with a record
volume of over 500,000 tonnes in February. This growth concerned
both the supply and distribution of LNG. The port says this confirms
the importance of Rotterdam as an LNG trading hub.
Rotterdam’s container throughput rose 7.3 percent to 3.7 million TEU mainly due to a sharp rise
in transhipment volumes originating in Asia
Rendering of Eagle
LNG’s Jacksonville
LNG Export Facility
agle LNG Partners has received the Final Environmental
Impact Statement (FEIS) from the United States Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct the
Jacksonville LNG Export Facility.
This is the last step in the environmental review process before the
final Federal Authorization Decision Deadline and anticipated FERC
approval of the project.
“Achieving this critical milestone is a significant step forward for
Eagle’s Jacksonville LNG Export Facility as we continue to advance our
efforts to supply clean burning, domestic and affordable LNG for
marine bunkering and small-scale LNG export to both domestic and
international markets,” said Sean Lalani, president of Eagle LNG.
The FEIS is a result of FERC’s comprehensive process that Eagle LNG
started in December 2014, and includes the completion of numerous
comprehensive environmental, safety and security reviews involving
input from both federal and state agencies and various stakeholders.
The proposed Jacksonville facility will initially consist of three
liquefaction trains, which, at full build-out, will be capable of
producing up to 1.65 million gallons of LNG a day, or approximately 1
million tonnes a year. “The Jacksonville LNG Export Facility, with its
prime Florida East Coast location, will give us a unique and
competitive advantage in helping provide some of the lowest-cost
power generation for nearby Caribbean countries. With
approximately US$500 million of infrastructure investment, this
project will continue to generate numerous well-paying direct and
indirect jobs in Florida,” said Lalani.
FERC also issued an order granting authorisation for Tellurian Inc’s
Driftwood LNG, a proposed 27.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa)
liquefaction export facility near Lake Charles, Louisiana, and the
associated Driftwood pipeline, a 96-mile pipeline connecting to the
facility.