The Port of Antwerp has announced that it handles a shade under 47m tonnes of freight during the opening three months of 2013, an increase of 1.4 per cent when compared with the same period last year.
While the result was driven by growing volumes of liquid bulk, container volumes fell through the quarter, down 2.8 per cent to 2.13m TEU from 2.19 TEU in the same period of 2012.
In tonnage terms, container volumes fell by 5.7 per cent to 25.4m tonnes, dropping from 27m tonnes in the first quarter last year.
The number of seagoing ships calling at Antwerp through the three-month period came in 1.2 per cent lower year-on-year, down to 3,587, although gross tonnage actually climbed 3 per cent to 79.8m.
