BRUSSELS: Antwerp’s container traffic surged 9.5 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, outpacing growth in all other cargo sectors.
Europe’s third-largest container hub handled 2.35 million TEUs, up from 2.15 million TEUs in the first three months of 2014. The first-quarter increase is more than double the 4.5 percent year-over-year growth in 2014 traffic to 8.96 million TEUs.
The port authority said it is “naturally very pleased with these figures, but nevertheless guards against over-optimism in view of the continuing turbulence and volatility in the market.”
Total throughput was 5.9 percent higher at just over 51 million metric tons. Roll-on, roll-off traffic slumped 8.7 percent to 1.08 million metric tons, with the number of cars handled down 6.9 percent at 291,900.
Conventional freight volume also shrank, by 3.5 percent, to 2.32 million metric tons with steel shipments stalling at 1.57 million metric tons. Liquid cargo volume gained 4.7 percent to 15.8 million metric tons, and dry bulk traffic rose 3.6 percent to 3.6 million metric tons.
