There was a 10.5% decrease in the tonnage of goods through Ireland’s main ports at the end of June, compared to the previous year.
The latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that the number of vessels at the seven main ports in Ireland also dropped by 16.7% in the year to the end of June 2020.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland accounted for 37.3% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports by region of trade in the second quarter of 2020, and other EU countries accounted for a similar percentage of trade (37.8%).
The figures are based on returns from the port authorities.
Image source: CSO
Between 2019 and 2020, only liquid bulk goods saw a percentage increase (5.4%) in tonnage through Irish ports (see above).
Other areas such as dry bulk (-8.5%) and break bulk and other goods (-33.2%) saw decreases in tonnage.
Overall port traffic
The seven main Irish ports handled 11 million tonnes of goods in Q2, 2020 – a decrease of 10.5% compared with Q2, 2019.
Goods forwarded from these ports amounted to 3.8 million tonnes in Q2, 2020, while a total of 7.2 million tonnes of goods were received.
Dublin port accounted for 62.4% of all vessel arrivals in Irish ports and just under half (49.5%) of the total tonnage of goods handled in Q2, 2020.
Meanwhile, Irish ports handled 88,000 passengers in the second quarter of 2020, a decrease of 88.3% compared with the same period in 2019.
In the second quarter of 2020, Dublin port accounted for 96.6% of all passenger journeys.