Pictured (L-R): Eamonn O’Reilly, chief executive, Dublin Port; Lucy McCaffrey, chairperson, Dublin Port Company, Paschal Donohoe TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport; and Jonathan Taylor, vice president, European Investment Bank
Dublin Port Company today published trade statistics for 2015, showing a record year for trade at Dublin Port, with cargo volume growth of 6.4%.
Total throughput for 2015 was 32.8 million gross tonnes with 7,166 ship arrivals in the year, exceeding the port’s previous record levels of 2007.
There was balanced growth between imports and exports in 2015. Imports were up 6.5% at 19.5 million gross tonnes, while exports were ahead by 6.4% at 13.3 million gross tonnes.
In previous years, growth in Dublin Port was driven by increasing exports. However, in 2015, the strengthening of domestic demand saw imports rise slightly faster than exports.
There was particularly strong growth in imported trade vehicles with 102,149 vehicles imported, an increase of 25.8% in the year.
1.8 million ferry passengers travelled through the port in 2015, representing a 5.1% increase on last year and placing Dublin Port on a par with major national airports including Cork and Shannon.
2015 was also a strong year for the port’s cruise business, with 149,000 visitors on 93 cruise ships, up 8.1% and 5.9% respectively on 2014.
Eamonn O’Reilly, chief executive, Dublin Port Company, said: “It is timely that we received planning permission for the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment Project during 2015. This is the single largest port development project ever in the country and will help us to continue to cater for the expected high levels of growth in future years. We also finalised debt facilities of €100m with the EIB during 2015 and succeeded in securing €23m in grant funding from the EU for our investment plans.”
He continued: “Our growth in recent years has been driven by the investment decisions of our major customers including Irish Ferries, Stena Line, Seatruck, CLdN, Doyle Shipping Group and Ecocem, and it is essential that we match these customers’ commitments by investing in nationally important port infrastructure in Dublin, the country’s premier port.”