Container traffic at the Port of Antwerp grew just 2 percent in 2011 from a year earlier as the Belgian port lost market share in the container shipping business to close rival Rotterdam despite record cargo volume.
Antwerp, Europe’s third-largest box port, handled a record 8.64 million 20-foot-equivalent units in 2011. The port’s overall cargo volume jumped 4.6 percent to 186.4 million metric tons, outpacing 0.8 percent growth at Rotterdam.
Breakbulk cargo surged 14.8 percent to 12.78 million tons. This partly reversed recent setbacks threatening Antwerp’s position as Europe’s leading conventional cargo port. “A great deal of work remains to be done,” the port authority said.
Roll on/roll off shipments were up 13.3 percent at 4.22 million tons while auto traffic jumped 14.7 percent to 1.06 million units.
Bulk traffic was up 6.3 percent at 64.6 million tons, driven mainly by a 12.4 percent increase in liquid bulks to 46.1 million tons.
Dry bulk traffic dipped 6.5 percent to 18.5 million tons, due largely to lower imports of ore and fertilizers.
The number of ship calls increased 3 percent to 15,230
The Journal of Commerce Online
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