Antwerp port sees box volumes rise 6pc in 2008

THE Port of Antwerp handled 190 million tonnes in 2008, an increase of 4 per cent compared with the previous year.

Within this total, the port handled nearly 102 million tonnes of containerised freight, up 7.7 per cent year on year. In terms of TEU, the container volume rose by 6 per cent to more than 8.6 million TEU.

The figures for the first nine months were excellent, and while the last quarter clearly showed the effects of the downturn in the world economy, a statement from its port authorities said.

The ro/ro volume remained almost the same as in 2007, with 4.4 million tonnes of wheeled freight. Conventional/breakbulk freight was down by 15 per cent to nearly 17 million tonnes, after an exceptional year in 2007 when there was a very high volume of steel from Asia. In 2008, however, the amount of steel was down by 14.1 per cent to 10.5 million tonnes.

The volume of forest products was also down, falling by 18 per cent to 2,700,000 tonnes, mainly as a result of trade being lost to other ports. The fruit volume on the other hand was up slightly, rising 1 per cent to 1.3 million tonnes, the release said.

The volume of bulk freight was up by 5.1 per cent compared to the previous year at 67.4 million tonnes, largely as a result of the sharp increase in dry bulk. The growth was attributed in part to the opening of a new terminal in the sixth Haven dock. The volume of liquid bulk was stationary at 39.5 million tonnes, but chemicals products were up 4 per cent year on year.

Antwerp Port Authority expects that the general trend over the past three months will continue during the first half of 2009. The second quarter of 2008 will be difficult to equal in any case, since in that period extra freight was diverted to Antwerp as a result of a dock strike in Le Havre, it added.

Source: Schednet