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Antwerp bucks trend of falling Far East trade from Jan-Sep

BELGIUM's port of Antwerp is on track this year to handle a total of 200 million tonnes of freight for the first time ever, after handling 157 million tonnes of cargo in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 5.5 per cent compared to the same period last year, due to ongoing growth in container and liquid bulk volumes.

From January to September container throughput rose by eight per cent to 7.3 million TEU and the volume of containerised freight was up by 5.4 per cent to 85.4 million tonnes, while liquid bulk volumes were up 7.9 per cent to 50 million tonnes, year on year, reported Hellenic Shipping News.

Antwerp has been gaining market share on all shipping routes. Even with the Asia trades the port managed to finish the first nine months of the year with growth of 6.2 per cent, a remarkable achievement given that overall the shipping industry has been experiencing decreasing volumes on trade routes to and from the Far East.

During the reporting period 10,786 seagoing ships called at the port of Antwerp, 2.5 per cent more than in the same period last year. The total gross tonnage increased by 7.7 per cent to 271 million gross tonnes.