Amsterdam Port (port code: NLAMS) the second largest seaport in the Netherlands, and the largest cocoa and benzene loading and unloading port in the world. It is situated at the junction of the North Sea Canal (Nooordzeekanaal) and the Amsterdam Rhine Canal (Rijnkanaal), at the head of the Ijsselmeer, a shallow freshwater lake in the northern Netherlands's North Holland province.
The port area consists of the ports of Amsterdam, Zaanstad and IJmuiden, which includes Beverwijk. The harbour has been extensively enlarged and modernised with new deep and spacious harbours in the west port area. At present the total surface of the port area includes 2,873 hectares. There are ample facilities for break bulk, containerised, Ro-Ro and general cargo as well as for forest products and cars. Furthermore, there is a container terminal, a ferry terminal and a passenger terminal.
The port stores and distributes nearly 20% of the world's annual cocoa production. It handles approximately 74.8 million tons of cargo and 425,000TEU annually. The main imported goods entering this port are grains, ore, coal, fertilizers, crude oil, cocoa powder, coffee, paper, machinery, chemicals and groceries, etc. The principal exported goods leaving this port include coke, oil, wheat, fertilizer, metal utensils, transportation equipment, chemical products, and meat.
Each year about 5,400 vessels and 468,500 passengers visit this port. The types of vessels regularly calling at this port are cargo vessels, accounting for around 36%; tankers, taking up about 18%; and sailing vessels, taking a proportion of 17%. The maximum length of the vessels recorded to having entered this port is 332 meters. The maximum draught is 14.2 meters. The maximum deadweight is 208,445t.