The Antwerp Port Authority in Belgium has revealed that the Port of Antwerp handled some 87m tonnes of freight through the first half of the year, an increase of 12.7 per cent compared with the same period last year when volumes hit 77m tonnes.
According to the Port Authority, container volumes climbed by nearly 20 per cent in comparison with the January-June period of 2009, from 42.9m tonnes to 51.3m tonnes, or up 16.2 per cent to 4.2m TEU (20ft equivalents).
'This result gets us back to 2008 levels and confirms Antwerp's position as Europe's second-largest container port, said Antwerp Port Authority CEO Eddy Bruyninckx. 'However, the positive trend in 2010 does not mean that we can afford to be any less careful about further developments.'
Bulk freight volumes rose by 4.1 per cent through the half to 28.2m tonnes, mainly the result of dry bulk growth of 24.7 per cent to 9.8m tonnes.
However, the port said that volumes of conventional/breakbulk freight increased only slightly, with 1.2 per cent more loaded and unloaded between January and June this year, or 5.5m tonnes – down 43.6 per cent on 2007.
'Conventional/breakbulk remains an area of concern, as the decline cannot be explained entirely by the state of the economy,' the Port Authority noted.
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