Port of Antwerp record volumes

The Port of Antwerp has achieved a record freight volume for the fifth straight year in a row.

In 2017 the port handled 223,606,610 tonnes of freight, an increase of 4.4% compared with the previous year. Practically all sectors turned in an excellent performance: the container volume expanded in tonnage by 4.3% (123 million tonnes), liquid bulk such as oil derivatives by 5.7% (73.1 million tonnes), and conventional breakbulk such as steel by 4.8% (10.3 million tonnes), while ro/ro completed the growth list with 10.5% (5.1 million tonnes). Only dry bulk such as coal and ores lagged in the tables, finishing the year with a drop of 3.7% (12.2 million tonnes).

CEO of Antwerp Port Authority, Jacques Vandermeiren said: “Finishing the year with such strong growth figures gives us confidence for the future. The port companies too remain firmly convinced of the advantages of Antwerp and the strengths that it has to offer, witness the many investments that we were able to welcome in 2017. In 2018 we seek to build further on the momentum of the previous year. This means that we will take the entire world as the scale for our decisions, with maximum facilitation for our customers as the basis.”

 The volume of liquid bulk topped out in 2017 with growth of 5.7% (to 73,134,912 tonnes). In fact, the last quarter of 2017 was the best ever in this segment. The rise in the total volume of liquid bulk was driven by an increase in the amount of crude oil handled, up by 49.9% (to 5,963,279 tonnes). The volume of oil derivatives, accounting for nearly three quarters of the total within this segment, rose once more in 2017 by 3.1%, to 52,939,495 tonnes.

A total of 14,223 seagoing ships called at Antwerp in 2017, a decrease of 1.7% compared with the previous year. On the other hand, the overall gross tonnage of these ships rose by 1.4%, to 406,762,315 GT.

For more information visit www.portofantwerp.com

26th Feb 2018