Throughput continues to register growth in the Port of Antwerp. After record semi-annual figures, the total throughput after nine months stands at 177,026,550 tonnes – a sharp 6% increase compared with the same period last year.
A press release from the company said that with these results, the port seems to be on track for the sixth record year in a row. The recent wave of investments moreover confirms the port’s appeal and reaffirms its role as a world player.
Container traffic registered robust growth yet again, up by 7.1% (98,436,773 tonnes) compared with the first nine months of 2017. In terms of Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), throughput grew by 6.8%, to 8,333,523 TEU.
All shipping areas registered growth, both imports and exports, with the sole exception of exports to Central America which registered a slight drop.
Throughput for the largest shipping area, Europe, registered the strongest growth: 12.4%. Throughput for North America grew by 8.2% and for Asia by 2.2%. Imports from China after 8 months stand at the status quo more or less, while exports are 6.7% lower. Owing to the Chinese import ban on old paper and plastic waste, export of full containers to China declined and more empty containers are exported.
Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO, Antwerp Port Authority: “2018 is already a peak year for our port. Not only because of the record figure that we can present yet again, but also because of the wave of investments in recent months. The decision of major players in the chemical industry such as Borealis, Ineos, Nippon, Sea-Mol and Oiltanking/AGT to opt for Antwerp confirms and reaffirms our strong appeal as the largest chemical cluster in Europe.”