Irish Ports Face Slight Fall in 2013

Irish ports handled 46.7 million tonnes of goods in 2013, a fall of 927,000 tonnes (-1.9%) compared to 2012, according to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office.

Goods forwarded accounted for this decrease, falling by 6.9% to 15.3 million tonnes in 2013. Goods received increased marginally to 31.4 million tonnes over the same period.

Liquid bulk and lift-on/lift-off traffic fell by 14.0% and 7.6% respectively in 2013 while dry bulk traffic recorded the largest increase at 6.0%.

The annual analysis also shows that:

• The number of vessels arriving in Irish ports during 2013 increased by 1.1% to 11,940. However, the total gross tonnage of these vessels fell by 6.7% to 209.8 million tonnes.
• Goods received accounted for two thirds (67.2%) of the total tonnage of goods handled while goods forwarded accounted for 32.8%. The corresponding percentages for 2012 were 65.5% and 34.5% respectively.
• Of the total weight of goods handled, dry bulk accounted for 34.1%, roll-on/roll-off 26.0%, liquid bulk 24.7%, lift-on/lift-off 13.3% and break bulk 1.9%.
• The routes between Dublin and three UK ports – Milford Haven, Holyhead and Liverpool were the busiest routes for inward movement of goods in 2013. These accounted for nearly one quarter of the total weight of goods received. The Dublin-Liverpool and Dublin-Holyhead routes were also the busiest routes in terms of goods forwarded.

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Press Release, June 27, 2014