Port of Antwerp-Bruges handled 133.9m tonnes of maritime cargo in the first half of 2026, down 2.4% year on year, according to Port of Antwerp-Bruges.
Container throughput fell 1.5% in TEU and 3.6% by weight, becoming the main drag on the total. Full-container exports declined 5.7%, while empty-container volumes rose 13.7%.
A four-day strike in March cost an estimated 100,000 TEU, an oil spill in the Deurganck dock in April removed about 85,000 TEU, and pilot action in June caused a further estimated loss of 75,000 TEU.
Imports from Persian Gulf countries fell 57%, with LNG shipments from Qatar down 66% after the final cargo on 23 March.
Net cargo losses linked to the region reached about 2.2m tonnes.
Full-container imports from the US declined 10.4%, exports fell 16.5% and conventional general cargo exports, mainly steel, dropped 32%.
LNG imports from Russia increased 12.5% ahead of the European import ban due in 2027.
RoRo throughput rose 5.9%, with new-vehicle volumes up 7.7% to 1.695m units. Traffic from China increased 25.5% and Japan 5.5%.
Dry bulk grew 2.2%, while liquid bulk slipped 1.9%. LNG volumes gained 1.3% and naphtha 31.3%. Conventional general cargo fell 11.7%, despite a 44.8% rise in Chinese steel volumes.
The port maintained its container market share as Gemini Cooperation added Antwerp calls on the Far East-Europe trade and Premier Alliance deployed larger ships. Work also advanced on the Extra Container Capacity Antwerp project and the Left Bank Container Cluster.
Port of Antwerp-Bruges is managed by Antwerp-Bruges Port Authority, a public-law limited liability company owned by the cities of Antwerp and Bruges.