Dublin Port volumes up 13.7% in Q1 2022
Dublin Port Company has today reported trading figures for the first quarter of 2022, according to the company's release.
Against the background of a large decline in Q1 2021 because of Brexit (15.2%), Dublin Port’s volumes recovered strongly in Q1 2022 with growth of 13.7% to 8.9 million gross tonnes compared to same period in 2021:
Imports from January to March grew by +14.2% to 5.4 million gross tonnes.
Exports also grew, by 12.8% to 3.5 million gross tonnes.
Unitised trade (Ro-Ro and Lo-Lo) accounted for 82% of all cargo volumes in the quarter and the number of trailers and containers combined increased by +13.3% to 363,000 units. Within this, there was a strong recovery in RoRo with growth of 22.9% to 250,000 units. This was partly offset by a decrease in LoLo of -3.5% to 112,000 units (equivalent to 202,000 TEU).
While overall unitised volumes grew to 363,000 units, trends were very different geographically:
Ro-Ro and Lo-Lo to and from ports in the Cherbourg to Rotterdam range increased by +1.8% to 152,000 units
Unitised volumes (mainly Ro-Ro) to and from the GB ports of Holyhead, Liverpool and Heysham grew by 23.0% to 192,000 units
Ro-Ro and Lo-Lo with other EU ports and with non-EU ports in the Mediterranean increased by +26.4% to 19,000 units.
Elsewhere in Dublin Port’s unitised trades, imports of new trade vehicles declined by 8.0% to 25,000 units as land constraints continue to impact the port’s transit storage capacity.
Bulk Liquid imports of petroleum products returned to the pre-pandemic record levels of 2019 with strong growth of +20.2% to 1.1 million tonnes emphasising Dublin Port’s importance as a national energy hub.
Bulk Solids (including agrifeed products, ore concentrates and cement products) finished the quarter +8.0% ahead at 0.6 million tonnes.
Outside of Dublin Port’s cargo business, passenger and tourism volumes have partially recovered post-pandemic. Passenger numbers on ferries (including HGV drivers) increased by more than 150% to 209,000 while tourist vehicles more than doubled to 58,000 (+238%).
However, both passenger numbers (-23%) and tourist vehicle volumes (-29%) remain significantly behind their pre-pandemic levels of 2019.