Port of Antwerp container volumes up 5.8%

Port of Antwerp container volumes up 5.8%    The port of Antwerp in Belgium handled 4.8 million TEUs in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 5.8 percent over the same period 2004.
   The port said it handled nearly 120 million tons of cargo, up 5.7 percent compared with the same period last year.
   Roll-on/roll-off cargo dipped by 4 percent during the past nine months with 589,413 cars, trucks and trailers being shipped through the port so far this year. The port said imports remained stable, but exports were down due to stricter import rules in West Africa and the closure of the Iraq market.
   Conventional general cargo grew by 3 percent after the first nine months of this year, to 13.6 million tons, with imports in particular rising significantly as a result of the strong increase in steel products (up 23 percent).
   The volume of bulk freight handled in Antwerp stood at 47.8 million tons at the end of the third quarter, an increase of nearly 4 percent. Both imports and exports were up during the past nine months. The port noted strong growth in the volume of chemicals (up 11 percent) and oil derivatives (up 14 percent).
   From January to September a total of 11,407 seagoing vessels called at Antwerp, down 1.7 percent over the same period last year.