The port of Antwerp handled 54.32m tonnes of freight during the first three months of this year, 1.5 per cent more than in the same period last year.
Growth is mainly due to container freight, which was up by 2 per cent in terms of tonnage – in fact, the port authority noted that this has been the best first quarter ever, both for total overseas freight and for containers.
All this means that after the record year of 2016 the port of Antwerp is off to a good start, according to CEO Jacques Vermeiren.
“The Port Authority is very satisfied with these growth figures,” he said. “Since the first half of last year experienced better performance than the second half, it is important to see the volumes continuing to steadily increase in the container segment. This positive trend confirms the demand for additional container capacity in the Antwerp port area.'
