BELFAST HARBOUR REPORTS STEADY TRADING PERFORMANCE IN 2024 

Trade through Belfast Harbour increased slightly in 2024 as the shipping of key goods and commodities in and out of Northern Ireland remained resilient to global economic headwinds and persistently high energy costs.

Releasing its annual trade figures, Belfast Harbour today reported that 24.1 million tonnes of goods were handled by the port in 2024, up from 23.9 million tonnes the year before and in line with projections for the period.

Belfast Harbour is the region’s leading gateway and key economic hub for trade and tourism, handling more than 70% of the region’s seaborne imports and exports and 25% of sea trade for the island of Ireland.

2024 was another record year for Roll-On Roll-Off (RoRo) freight traffic delivered by Belfast Harbour’s partner and customer Stena Line, with 617,000 freight equivalent units comprising of HGVs, smaller commercial vehicles and cars for the motor trade, passing through the port. This is up from the previous record performance of 610,000 delivered in 2023. The number of tourist coaches also increased by 5% to 12,700

The overall volume of ferry passengers travelling through the Port remained steady at 1.7 million and 500,000 cars passed through Belfast in 2024. The figures demonstrate the importance of Stena Line’s freight traffic routes to Scotland and England to the local economy and reflect continued collective investment in terminals, facilities and ships.

Grains and feedstuffs had a record year, rising to 2.46 million tonnes, slightly ahead of the previous record volumes of 2.43 million tonnes seen in 2021.

Container traffic also saw a positive performance, ending the year up 3% on the previous year with 124,000 units handled – a positive outcome after two years of lower  volumes following a post-pandemic high of 131,000 in 2021.

Belfast Harbour also welcomed 145 cruise ship calls in 2024 during a successful cruise season, with 60 ships from 35 different cruise lines bringing an estimated 260,000 passengers and crew to the city. Belfast Harbour estimates the value of cruise tourism to the economy of between £20-25m each year.

Michael Robinson, Belfast Harbour’s Port Director, said: “The results for 2024 show that trade through Belfast Harbour remains resilient and that the Port community has continued to transport people and deliver the goods and services relied on by communities and businesses in the region.

“Like every business, we are mindful of the challenges in the economy, which have affected both our customers and our own operations. It is very pleasing to note that despite these challenges, RoRo traffic volumes and the number of passengers travelling to and from Northern Ireland reached new record levels and other categories continued to perform strongly, demonstrating the important role that Belfast Harbour plays in keeping daily life moving.

“In our new strategy, Advance Regional Prosperity, which was launched last month, Belfast Harbour outlined our plans to make £313m of investments in key port and estate infrastructure over the next five years. We are confident this investment will help give us the capacity to facilitate further growth in trade for the region.”

Paul Grant, Stena Line’s Trade Director, said: “2024 represented a record year for Stena Line freight volumes on our Belfast routes to Cairnryan, Liverpool and Heysham.  Belfast Harbour is now one of Stena Line’s largest business hubs and we are confident that we can deliver even more success in the future.  That’s why have committed further significant investment in our fleet in the form of two purpose built NewMax vessels to operate on the Belfast-Heysham service which will an additional 40% freight capacity.  The first ship Stena Futura will come into service on the route in autumn 2025.”

Claudine Heron, Chief Executive, Agri Division, W&R Barnett said: “The agri feed market enjoyed exceptional demand in 2024 and we were delighted this aligned with operation of a new crane commissioned by Belfast Harbour mid-2023, delivering efficiencies and supporting record import volumes for grains and animal feedstuffs. Port infrastructure investments, such as those announced within the recent Belfast Harbour Strategy document, continue to be an essential foundation for delivering productivity and growth for all businesses operating through the port. This is essential to underpin economic growth and prosperity for all in Northern Ireland.”