Dublin Port Company reported strong full year trade figures for 2010, with exports up by 12.2 per cent, imports up by 2.4 per cent, and an increase in the port’s volumes of 6.1 per cent in 2010. Total throughput for the year was 28.1 million tonnes, which is less than ten per cent down from the port’s best ever performance in 2007 at the height of the boom.
Growth was concentrated in the unitised modes but was partially offset by declines in bulk liquid and bulk solid cargoes due directly to the sluggish performance of the economy. Ro-ro freight units increased by 12.8 per cent to 725,665, less than one per cent down from the port’s highest ever throughput, and confirming the port as Ireland’s premier port for ro-ro. Growth during the year was driven in part by the new CLdN Ro-Ro services to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. Imports of oil products dropped 6.5 per cent.