Port of Antwerp Throughput Rose
PORT of Antwerp handled 214.1m tonnes of cargo in 2016, a 2.7% rise compared with 2015.
According to MANA, In the container space, throughput rose 4.1% to 117.9m tonnes or up 4% to 10.03m teu, surpassing the 10m teu mark for the first time.
The growth rate though was 0.1% lower than end-2016's growth rate as dense fog which enveloped the port in the final days in December 2016 resulted in delays for some major container shipping lines.
Ro-ro volumes however fell 1.8% to 4.6m tonnes with the number of vehicles handled declining 2.8% to 1.2m.
Breakbulk volumes were also lower by 2% to 9.8m tonnes.
The same downtrend was seen in dry bulk with volumes dropping 9.1% to 12.6m tonnes.
On the bright side, liquid bulk volumes increased 3.8% to 69.2m tonnes with oil products rising 7.1% to 51.3m tonnes. Chemicals rose 1.1% to 13.6m tonnes while crude imports and exports fell 17.4% to 4.0m tonnes.
The total number of seagoing vessels which called at the port over last year stood at 14,473, a 0.4% rise from 2015.