The port of Antwerp has revealed that it handled 111.4m tonnes of freight during the first six months of this year, 2.8 per cent more than in the same period of 2016.
Container freight continued to perform well after a number of exceptional years, with an increase of 2.5 per cent in terms of tonnage and 1.9 per cent in TEU.
After the previous record years, these latest figures inspire further confidence, according to port authority CEO Jacques Vandermeiren.
“We have achieved them against a background of already good performance,' he noted. “In 2016 Antwerp was one of the few ports in the Hamburg-Le Havre range to achieve growth figures. If after that we can once more produce a positive report then we have every reason for satisfaction.”
But he also warned: “We have to look ahead; these volumes also demonstrate the need for additional container capacity in the port of Antwerp. We will do everything necessary to give the port companies the oxygen that they need in order to prosper. Our companies create employment, not only within the port itself but also far beyond. We have to keep supplying this engine of employment in Flanders.'
