Port of Antwerp reports strong results in first nine months of 2011

During the first nine months of 2011 the port of Antwerp handled a total of 142m tonnes of freight. This represents an increase of 7.5% compared with the first nine months of 2010, when the volume came to 132m tonnes. The first half of the year proved to be fairly strong, but this was followed by a slowdown in growth during the third quarter (see Ti Dashboard – Sea Freight: Port of Antwerp).

The container volume in Antwerp was up by 2.7% in comparison with the period January-September 2010, from 77.1m to 79.2m tonnes. In terms of standard containers (twenty foot-equivalent units) the volume amounted to 6.5m TEU, representing an increase of 3.1%.

The volume of conventional/breakbulk freight rose strongly, with 16% more being loaded and unloaded from January to September than in the same period last year. The total volume for the first nine months came to 9.7m tonnes. Steel experienced particularly strong growth of 37.3%, rising to 6.5m tonnes. It seems that the planned closure of the Arcelor Mittal blast furnaces in Liège will not have any significant effect on the position of steel in the port of Antwerp. Last year the amount of coal and ore imported through Antwerp amounted to 750,000 tonnes. "The loss of this trade will make itself felt in the figures for bulk, but our handling companies still have many advantages," declared Port Authority CEO Eddy Bruyninckx.

For the rest, however, the results for conventional/breakbulk were mixed: the volume of paper and cellulose was down by 33.0%, while the fruit volume was up by 2.8% and wood up by 55.9%.

In the ro/ro sector the port of Antwerp experienced an expansion of 11.3%, to 3.0m tonnes. The number of cars handled rose by 15.2%, with 772,836 vehicles being loaded and unloaded from January to September.

The volume of bulk freight rose by 14% in the first nine months of 2011, to 50.1m tonnes. The increase was mainly due to the rise in liquid bulk, which was up by 21.6% to 35.6m tonnes. The volume of oil derivatives too rose by 31.3%, while chemicals were up by 9.1%.

Dry bulk for its part was down by 1.2%, to 14.47m tonnes. Growth was experienced by among others coal, grain and sand and gravel. On the other hand there was contraction in the volumes of ore, fertilisers and scrap metal.

Quelle: eyefortransport
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