Port of Antwerp registered another record year
The Antwerp Port Authority registered a throughput of 190 million tons of goods in the year 2008 (+4% compared to 2007). Thus the Belgian seaport showed a record value for the seventh time in succession. Like in previous years the growth area was once again container traffic with a growth rate of 7.7 percent to 102 million tons. With a volume of 8.6 million TEU, the enterprise dispatched 6 percent more boxes than in 2007. The RoRo-traffic amounted to the same level as last year – 4.4 million tons. The volume at the automotive terminal rose 1 percent to 951,000 vehicles. As for the goods category “conventional/breakbulk“, the global economic downtrend became visible by a 15%-decline in total volume to 17 million tons. Manipulation of steel amounted to 10.5 million tons and failed the value of the year 2007 by 14.1 percent. The volume of forest products dropped by 18 percent to 2.7 million tons. The “bulk freight”-segment showed a 5.1 percent increase to 67.4 million tons thanks to strong growth rates in dry bulk cargo. Quelle: Österreichische Verkehrszeitung |