Antwerp container volume up 16.9pc in first nine months

BELGIUM's Port of Antwerp, the largest port in Europe after Rotterdam, increased container volume 16.9 per cent year on year to 6.3 million TEU in the first nine months of 2010, nearing pre-crisis records set in 2008.

Overall tonnage is expected to rise to 175 million tonnes by year's end, said the port authority. Ro-ro totalled 2.7 million metric tons, a 14.9 per cent increase of which automobiles came in at 670,990 units loaded or unloaded, a 22.8 per cent hike.

The spike in container volume was stark compared to breakbulk cargo which was down 6.3 per cent in the same period, though steel product movement increased 8.5 per cent at 4.8 million tonnes with fruit freight rising four per cent to 980,912 tonnes while wood cellulose and paper fell 10.2 per cent to 832,242 tonnes.

Bulk cargo came in at 44 million tonnes, a 4.8 per cent increase.
(Source:www.schednet.com)