Increased Q3 throughput for Antwerp

Containerised cargo jumped 16.9% to 70.5m tons, or over half the port’s throughput. The box count also increased, by 15.9% to 6.1m teu. The strongest growing container markets for Antwerp were China, Brazil, Malaysia and the US.

The breakbulk sector performed nearly as well, up 11.7% to almost 15m tons, with imports up by 42.2% and exports down by 14.6%. Steel volume increased 23%, with imports soaring 73.6%, mainly due to trade with China and India. Wood and paper shipments grew by 11%, while fruit cargos fell by 1.6%.

The port’s auto trade grew 7.5% to 705,832 vehicles, reflecting gains for both exports (+9.8%) and imports (+3.5%). The port authority credits Mazda imports from Japan and used auto shipments to West Africa for this year’s gains.