Port of Antwerp throughput down 1.8 percent in 2012
The port of Antwerp is expected to have handled 183.8 million tonnes of freight this year. This represents a drop of 1.8% compared with 2011, when the volume was 187.2 million tonnes, the port news release said.
All things considered, these figures are a mild reflection of the state of the economy and of the shipping industry. Antwerp’s performance was also impacted this year by the temporary shutdown of Belgian Refining Corporation (BRC), which depressed the growth figures for liquid bulk.
The container freight volume in Antwerp remained at around the same level, with 8,629,992 TEU (down 0.4%). Expressed in tonnes the fall amounted to 1.1%, to 103,965,023 tonnes. The ro/ro volume for its part rose by 13.6%, to 4,819,539 tonnes. The number of cars handled in 2012 came to 1,233,159, an increase of 14.1%.
On the other hand there was a fall in the volume of conventional breakbulk. By year-end it is expected that 10,804,408 tonnes will have been loaded and unloaded, 14.9% less than in the previous year. This result is mainly due to the fall in the amount of steel handled, which in turn reflects the current market conditions. Despite this the port of Antwerp has managed to further reinforce its position as Europe’s leading steel port in the past few months: various steel customers were won back from other ports (Rautaruukki from Rotterdam and Stemcor from Flushing), while some new ones were attracted to the port (Brown Mc Farlane, Mechel, Erdemir and others).
The bulk freight volume was down by 1.3%, to 64,233,461 tonnes. The liquid bulk volume for its part is expected to clock up at 45,224,048 tonnes, a decrease of 1.7% compared with the previous year. Without the temporary shutdown of BRC it would otherwise have reached a new record level. “This is the best evidence that the reconversion of former breakbulk zones into areas for tank storage during the past couple of decades is now bearing fruit,” declared Port Authority CEO Eddy Bruyninckx.
Meanwhile, dry bulk is expected to end the year at 19,009,413 tonnes (down 0.4%).
The number of seagoing ships calling at the port this year amounts to 14,593, a decrease of 4.2% compared with 2011. On the other hand the number of calls by ships of 10,000 TEU or more was up: from 141 in 2011 to an expected 165 this year, demonstrating that the port of Antwerp is very definitely reaping the benefits of the deepening of the Scheldt.
The number of jobs worked by the dockers came to 1,460,469 during the first 11 months of the year. This represents an increase of 0.8% compared with the same period last year.
From the annual study by the National Bank of Belgium concerning the economic importance of the Belgian ports, it emerges that the port of Antwerp generated 19.2 billion euros of added value in 2010. This is nearly twice as much as all three other Belgian seaports together: Ghent, Zeebrugge and Ostend. The port of Antwerp provided work for 146,000 people in 2010, or 60% of total employment in the Flemish ports. 71% of all freight passing through the Flemish seaports is handled in Antwerp. All this makes the port of Antwerp a vital engine of the Flemish economy.