The Russian invasion of Ukraine forced the Netherlands to look for alternatives to Russian gas. As a result, gas supplies from the United States have increased by 98 percent, according to statistics agency CBS. Of the total, 60 percent more liquefied natural gas came through seaports.
More oil was also unloaded, particularly from the Middle East and Africa. Russian petroleum and petroleum products were actually unloaded less. Statistics Netherlands decreased by 24 percent.
The crackdown in Ukraine also led to a reduction in the number of containers loaded at Dutch ports. This is due to the fact that after February 2022, container traffic between the Netherlands and Russia is almost at a standstill. The weight of containers to and from Russia decreased by 70 percent and 79 percent, respectively.
Despite the decline, most supplies in 2022 still came from Russia. That picture changed in December when the European Union imposed additional restrictions on imports of oil, petroleum products and coal. In the first quarter of 2023, the United States leads the supply of goods.
In 2022, a total of 433 million tonnes of cargo were unloaded in Dutch ports.
