Record freight volume at Antwerp

With container volumes slightly down as a result of the continuing recession the main driving force behind the growth in volume was liquid bulk.

“These freight volume results have been achieved thanks to investments by a number of large players over the past few years,” said Port Authority CEO Eddy Bruyninckx. “They are also the best proof that conversion of former breakbulk areas into tank storage facilities has paid off for our port. When it comes to containers the stagnating economy continues to weigh on the figures, but this situation applies practically throughout the Hamburg-Le Havre range.”

The number of containers handled was down slightly (by 0.7%) to 8,572,345 teu. In terms of tonnage the drop was 1.7%, with the total volume expected to be 102m tonnes. However the prospects are positive thanks to the announcement of the P3 Network (an alliance of the three largest container shipping companies in the world: Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM) and the decision by MSC to concentrate its activities in Antwer.