After seven years of the growth, the port of Antwerp has reported a drop in freight volume as a result of the economic recession, meaning that the Belgian port’s final result for the year is expected to be around 158m tonnes.
However, despite the recession, the year brought several positive developments, one being new Scheldt navigation regulations, enabling large container carriers to reach Antwerp more quickly and easily.
In a statement, Antwerp Port Authority said that, as with most European ports, 2009 had been a year of contraction in freight volume for Antwerp.
Nevertheless, the Port Authority said Antwerp had managed to maintain its status as the second-largest port in Europe, and had now positioned itself as the second port for container handling.
A forecast of the final figure for the volume of freight handled in 2009 puts the total at 158m tonnes, a fall of 31.5m tonnes or 16.7 per cent compared with the previous year.
At just over 100m tonnes, the amount of general cargo handled in the port was down by about 18 per cent compared with 2008.
The container volume stabilised after the first quarter, with the final figure estimated at 87m tonnes (down 14.1 per cent).
The Port Authority said there had been a “significant shift in trade in this segment in
particular, with shipping companies cutting entire loops and using fewer and above all larger vessels”.
Against this background, the regulatory body said new regulations for upstream and downstream navigation on the River Scheldt were an important confirmation of Antwerp’s accessibility.
The new regulations were given final approval by the Permanent Commission for Supervision of Scheldt Navigation on 9 December.
The Port Authority said that as many as 30 of the “very largest container carriers” called at Antwerp during the trial period that ran from 7 April to the middle of November.
It added that the deepening of the navigation channel in the Western Scheldt would further strengthen Antwerp’s position in future.
“We expect the dredging work to go ahead in January or February, as soon as the Dutch Council of State has reached its decision,” said Port Authority Chairman Marc Van Peel.
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