The port handled 54.3 million tons of cargo during the first three months of this year, a 1.5% increase compared to the same period last year. The growth was mainly due to container throughput of which the tonnage was increased by 2%. Q1 logged the the most brilliant record for shipping goods and container throughput. What is more, March was the best month for containers, according to the Port of Antwerp.
This is a very good new start for the port after it had created a new record last year.“Since the first half of last year experienced better performance than the second half, it is important to see the volumes continuing to steadily increase in the container segment. This positive trend confirms the demand for additional container capacity in the Antwerp port area,” Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of the Port of Antwerp, commented.
Container cargo and bulk cargo
In Q1, the tonnage and the number of TEUs of container throughput were 29.75 million tons and 2.48 million TEUs,up 2% and 0.7% respectively.
Roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) freight alsohiked5.3% to 1.2 million tons. The number of cars handled went up by 2.8% to 317,000 units. The conventional breakbulk continued to expand in comparison with the same period last year. At the end of March, the cargo volume stood at 2.6 million tons, an increase of 8.3%. Similar to last year, the increase of the volume of bulk cargo handlingwas due to that of steel, up 14.7% to 2.09 million tons.
Liquid Bulk
The volume of liquid bulk handled during the first three months experienced a slight decline and stood at 17.6 million tons, down by 1.2%. The decline was mainly caused by the decrease of the volume of oil derivatives, while the slump in oil derivative supply resulted from the fluctuation of oil derivatives.
Dry Bulk
Dry bulk volume totalled 3.1 million tons at the end of the quarter, representing a growth of 6.7% compared with the same period last year.
Seagoing Ships
A total of 3,505 seagoing ships called at the Port of Antwerp from January to March, a drop of 0.8%. The gross tonnage of these ships was 99.7 million tons, up by 3.3%, the port’s data shows.