Trade at Dublin Port rebounds as freight volumes increase with Britain.
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Loading... - Cosette Escoffier
- 20 Apr 2022
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Freight moving through Dublin Port rebounded by 14% to 8.9 million tonnes in the first quarter of the year, following a sharp decline in trade due to Brexit in the same quarter last year.
New border controls on trade between Britain and Ireland were introduced in January 2021 after the UK left the European Union which resulted in a 15% drop in freight volumes between both countries in the first quarter.
The increase in this year's figures was driven by a 23% jump to 192,000 freight units on services to Holyhead, Liverpool and Heysham.
Dublin Port's chief executive Eamonn O'Reilly said that trade is still 18% below pre-Brexit levels but he is hopeful it will continue to recover.
The drop in trade with Britain has been offset by increased trade with the rest of Europe. Freight volumes increased by 1.8% to 152,000 units on ships travelling to and from ports from Cherbourg to Rotterdam in the first quarter.
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Imports grew by +14.2% to 5.4 million tonnes in the first qauarter.
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Exports also grew, by 12.8% to 3.5 million tonnes
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"Roll-on, roll-off" volumes grew by 23% to 250,000, while there was a decrease of 3.5% to 112,000 units on "lift-on, lift-off" container volumes at the port.
Mr O'Reilly said trade at the port has not been impacted by Russia's war in Ukraine, though it has seen a return to pre-pandemic record levels of 2019 with growth of 20% to 1.1 million tonnes, which he said emphasised Dublin Port's importance as a national energy hub.
A large capital investment programme is underway at Dublin Port which will be impacted by inflation. Read More...
