Antwerp container volume up 20%

Container throughput at the Port of Antwerp was up 16.2% to 4.2m teu during the first half of 2010, representing an increase in tonnage of nearly 20% from 42.9m to 51.3m.

“This result gets us back to 2008 levels and confirms Antwerp’s position as Europe’s second-largest container port,” said Antwerp Port Authority CEO Eddy Bruyninckx. “However, the positive trend in 2010 does not mean that we can afford to be any less careful about further developments.”

The port’s ro/ro sector expanded by 13.4% to 1.8m tonnes, with the volume of cars handled rising by 29.3% to 442,267 vehicles.

Overall, the port handled 87m tonnes of freight, a 12.7% increase compared with the same period last year, when the volume came to 77m tonnes. Bulk freight rose by 4.1% to 28.2m tonnes mainly due to the rise in dry bulk, which was up by 24.7%, however, liquid bulk dropped by 4.3% as a result of lower stocking levels on the oil market.

Conventional/breakbulk freight was up only 1.2% to 5.5m tonnes. This is 43.6% less than in 2007 and 34.8% less than in 2008. Whilst steel products dropped, fruit and paper saw increases. The Port Authority commented that, “conventional/breakbulk remains an area of concern, as the decline cannot be explained entirely by the state of the economy”.

The number of ship calls rose to 7,214.
(Source:www.container-mag.com)