Database on cargo flows in the port of Rotterdam, 1880-2000

Abstract

This dataset was created for the research project: Rotterdam-Antwerp, a century and a half of port competition, 1880-2000. The aim of the project was to investigate different variables that influence competition between these ports and their overall effect on cargo flows. This dataset only contains statistics on Rotterdam. (Dataset D0095 contains the data collected on the port of Antwerp.) The statistics offer detailed time-series on international cargo flows passing through Rotterdam. Cargo shipped to and from the port by domestic short-sea shipping is not registered by the sources, because in this kind of transport no border is crossed. Furthermore, like sea-borne transport, only hinterland transport from and to Rotterdam that has a foreign origin or destination is registered in the available statistical series. In other words, not all maritime-related hinterland transport is registered: transports within the Netherlands are missing. On the other hand, the hinterland data also contain cargo flows that have no relation with sea-borne transport to and from Rotterdam at all. It is not possible to assess the volume of these so-called continental transports. They consist for instance of exports by Rotterdam manufacturing firms to neighbouring European countries. This is a very important feature of the database. It implies that it is not possible to match the sea-borne traffic with the hinterland transports or, in other words, to assess the total modal split in hinterland transport of cargo that is shipped to and from Rotterdam by sea. The database is organized around the following general categories of cargo flows: 1. imports 2. inward bound transit 3. all incoming cargo 4. exports 5. outward bound transit 6. all outgoing cargo. All files can be downloaded from the website: http://www.eshcc.eur.nl/english/rotterdam_antwerp_1880_2000/sheets