The port of Antwerp handled 54,324,303 tonnes of freight during the first three months of this year, 1.5% more than in the same period last year. The further growth is mainly due to container freight, which was up by 2% in terms of tonnage. In fact this has been the best first quarter ever, both for total overseas freight and for containers. And on top of all that the previous month was the best for containers that has ever been recorded in the port of Antwerp.
Containers and breakbulk
The container volume was up 2% during the first quarter, finishing at 29,750,925 tonnes. This corresponds to 2,480,932 TEU, an increase of 0.7%.
Ro/ro for its part experienced remarkable progress, up 5.3% to 1,219,314 tonnes. The number of cars handled was up 2.8% to 316,988. Conventional breakbulk too continued to expand in comparison with the same period last year. At the end of March the volume stood at 2,583,590 tonnes, an increase of 8.3%. Just as in 2016, this good performance was largely due to the steel volumes handled (up 14.7% to 2,093,071 tonnes). Protectionist measures have not resulted in lower volumes, only a shift in the steel trade from one port to another.
Liquid bulk
The volume of liquid bulk handled during the first three months experienced a slight decline, down 1.2% to 17,624,478 tonnes. This was mainly due to oil derivatives which fell by 4.2%. On the import side specifically there was a sharp drop as a result of fluctuations in the trading activities.
Dry bulk
The volume of dry bulk stood at 3,145,995 tonnes at the end of the quarter, representing impressive growth of 6.7% compared with the same period last year, due mainly to higher imports of ore and coal.
Seagoing ships
A total of 3,505 seagoing ships called at the port of Antwerp during the first quarter, a drop of 0.8%. On the other hand the gross tonnage of all these ships was up by 3.3% to 99,701,892 GT.