Antwerp container volume passes 8m teu

The main engine of growth was general cargo, with a sharp rise in container volume yet again. Container volumes at Antwerp rose twice as quickly as the overall freight volume, with an increase of more than 16%, to around 94m tonnes. In terms of teu, the growth also worked out at 16%, with a total volume of more than 8m teu.

The Deurganck container dock handled almost 1.6m teu, an increase of 87% compared with 2006. The largest growth in container volume was in freight carried to and from China, Brazil, Malaysia and the USA.

Conventional/breakbulk cargo also showed a positive result at the end of the year. Volume increased significantly compared with 2006, to 19.8m tonnes, up more than 7% from 18.4m tonnes. The growth was all on the import side, with an increase of 27.8%; exports were down by 11%. In particular, Antwerp saw explosive growth in imports of iron and steel, with the volume rising by 48% to 6.6m tonnes, due mainly to imports from China and India.