Further growth for Antwerp

From January to September (inclusive) this year the port of Antwerp handled more than 144 million tonnes (144,377,630) of freight. This represents growth of 7.2% compared with the first nine months of 2007.

The freight volume during the first three quarters was 10 million tonnes higher than for the same period last year, both on the import side (up 7.9%) and on the export side (up 6.3%). During the past 12 months the port handled a volume of 192,539,000 tonnes.

Container freight, expressed in tonnes, expanded during the first nine months by 11% to 78,233,613 tonnes. This corresponds to 6,657,688 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units), an increase of 9%. The Deurganck dock for its part continued to expand its activities. In the first nine months it handled 1,445,732 TEU, an increase of 30% compared with the same period last year. Conventional/breakbulk on the other hand experienced a falling trend. From January to September 15.3% less was loaded and unloaded, although the total still came to nearly 13 million tonnes. There were large decreases in steel (down 15.8%), particularly on the import side. Due to the large weight of iron and steel in the overall figures for conventional/breakbulk this had a significant impact on the figures. Imports of paper were down too, leading to a drop of 11.5%. The volume of fruit handled was slightly up, by 3.6%.

During the first nine months of the year 723,499 cars were loaded or unloaded, with the volume of cars handled (ro/ro) increasing by 2.5%.

The volume of bulk cargo rose this year by 9% to 50,071,814 tonnes. The increase is mainly attributable to dry bulk, with volume up by 17.7%. The growth was particularly marked on the import side, with among others the volume of ore up by 48.3% and coal by 17.9%. The increase in ore and coal volumes has to do with among others the restarting of the Arcelor Mittal blast furnace in Liège, producers buying and storing more due to rising prices, and a number of relatively weak months in 2007.

The amount of liquid bulk was also up, by 3.6%. Crude oil experienced a 9.1% increase in volume.

Chemicals continued their growth (up 9.7%), reinforcing the port of Antwerp’s position as a distribution hub for chemical products.

The number of seagoing ships calling at the port rose by 0.8% to 12,513. The gross register tonnage for its part was up by 2.8%, to 220,478,716 GRT.

Antwerp Port Authority, press release