Container volume reaches the 7 million TEU mark
167,372,296 tonnes of cargo were loaded and unloaded in the port of Antwerp in 2006, an increase of 4.6% compared with the 160 million tonnes in 2005.
? The container volume is growing twice as fast as the general total, having increased by 8.2% to 7,018,799 TEU, or 0.5 million TEU more than the previous year. In terms of tonnage the volume of containers handled in the port of Antwerp was 80,809,428 tonnes, up by 8.3% or more than 6 million tonnes. The container trade with other European countries and North America in particular is continuing to grow strongly, as are imports from the Far East. The new Deurganck dock handled a volume of 810,000 TEU. Never before have new handling facilities in Flanders achieved such a high degree of utilisation in their first year of operation.
? Conventional/breakbulk also showed a positive final result at the end of the year. The volume has increased significantly compared with 2005, to 18,354,006 million tonnes, a growth of 2.8%. From the month of August onwards there was explosive growth in imports of steel from China and India as a result of developments in steel prices on the world markets. This trade peaked in the last quarter of 2006, with steel imports rising from 3.6 to 4.5 million tonnes (up 25%).
? Ro/ro traffic in the port of Antwerp experienced an increase of 6.1%. A total of 3,868,755 tonnes of ro/ro cargo was loaded and unloaded in the port of Antwerp during 2006. Last year 317,261 cars were imported and 571,747 exported. Overall the car trade expanded by 10.2%.
? Meanwhile the port of Antwerp handled 64,340,107 tonnes of bulk cargo , a slight increase of 0.6% compared with 2006. The amount of liquid bulk was up by 3.2%, while dry bulk was down by 3.0%.
For the first time in a long period there was an increase in the number of seagoing ships calling at Antwerp. During the past year 15,770 ships called at the port, a rise of 3.2% compared with 2005. The gross register tonnage rose even more strongly, by 6.7%.
Barge cargo thrives
By the end of the year the total volume of barge cargo was 85,693,918 tonnes , representing growth of 2% compared with 2005. The main origin and destination of the barges remains the Netherlands, with a volume of 36,726,174 tonnes. However, there was also a significant volume of cargo carried to and from Germany, amounting to 20,832,508 tonnes.
The total volume of containers carried by barge rose by 3%, to 21,391,780 tonnes. The outgoing volume of barge containers increased by 6%. Finally, barges carried 26,653,308 tonnes of oil and distillation products in 2006, representing an increase of 4% compared with 2005.
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