THE HAGUE, July 22. /TASS/. The Dutch port of Rotterdam said it decided to halt container transport to and from Russia, according to a statement on the port’s website on Friday.

"Container transport to and from Russia has come to a halt, and persistent bottlenecks in global container logistics caused cargo to shift from large to smaller container ports. In anticipation of the sanctions on coal and oil, less Russian coal, crude oil, oil products and LNG were imported in recent months. Companies are increasingly importing from other countries," the statement said.

The port authority said the loss of container traffic to and from Russia was due to the sanctions and the uncertainty associated with that.

"In many segments, the war in Ukraine led to significant changes. For example, imports of both LNG and coal rose very sharply as an alternative to reduced European imports of Russian gas by pipeline. The throughput of crude oil increased, with oil products falling off," the statement said.

Reuters reported the port’s throughput dropped by 1.5% in the first half of this year amid the conflict in Ukraine and the sanctions. The report said in 2021 30% of all oil coming to Rotterdam was from Russia, while Russian gas made up 25% of all imports, and coal 20%.