Port of Antwerp focuses heavily on general cargo: search begun for breakbulk candidate for Churchill Dock

The Churchill Dock, located in the middle of the port, is set to become a fully-fledged ‘Breakbulk Dock’. On the south side of this dock, a water-linked concession is due for release, with Port of Antwerp resolutely opting to develop general cargo activities there. In doing so, the port is showing that, despite the pressure on this segment due to global trade problems and the coronavirus crisis, breakbulk remains an absolute priority and that it aims to continue supporting this.

The area around the Churchill Dock has historically grown into one of the most important sites for breakbulk terminals at the port. The concession in question, located in the middle of existing breakbulk activities, is 15 hectares in size with multi-modal accessibility, including direct access to the European road, rail and inland waterway networks. As a result, breakbulk goods find their way quickly and reliably from European production and consumption centres to all corners of the world and vice versa.

Numerous logistics players offer various services at this location, with a high added value tailored to the customer. For example, there are service providers for the handling, assembly, quality control, packaging and storage of general cargo. This wide range of value-added services ensures that the goods are processed according to the end customer's wishes without excessive transport and handling costs.

Shipping breakbulk, such as steel, project cargo and forest products, requires a product-specific approach: no shipment is identical. Thanks to its can-do attitude and the extensive experience of its many service providers, the port of Antwerp is able to ship almost 9 million tons of conventional breakbulk every year, with an eye for quality.