BRUSSELS: The port of Antwerp handled 199,012,082 tonnes of freight in 2014, a rise of 4.3% compared with the previous year. The new record that was already announced at the end of December is put into sharper focus by these figures. The record growth has been driven by the volume of containers (up 5.9%) and liquid bulk (up 5.6%). Negative performance was turned in by conventional breakbulk (down 2.0%) and dry bulk (down 6.1%).
The container segment shows robust growth both in tonnes and in number of boxes. The number of standard containers handled (twenty-foot equivalent units) was up by 4.7% last year, finishing at 8,977,738 TEU. In terms of tonnage the figure is even more pronounced, up 5.9%. The total volume of containers handled in 12 months clocked up at 108,314,246 tonnes.
Ro-ro for its part was down by 2.0% to 4,470,346 tonnes. The number of cars handled fell by 8.1% to 1,195,161 units. Conventional breakbulk showed a similar contraction, down by 2.0% to 9,884,522 tonnes at the end of 2014.
