Antwerp to top 6-million-TEU volume in 2004

Antwerp to top 6-million-TEU volume in 2004    The port of Antwerp expects to handle 6 million TEUs by the end of the year, about 11 percent more than the 5.5 million TEUs moved through the Belgian port in 2003.
   Measured in tons, Antwerp’s container volume is projected to rise to more than 68 million tons in 2004, nearly 7 million more than in 2003.
   “In fact, since 1990, the container tonnage has increased four-fold, with average annual growth of 11.4 percent,” the Antwerp Port Authority said in a statement.
   Antwerp’s traffic of non-containerized general cargo for 2004 is estimated at more than 21 million tons, an increase of more than 4 percent from 2003.
   The port’s total maritime traffic, including bulk and roll-on/roll-off shipments, is projected to be more than 150 million tons in 2004, 6 percent higher than the 142 million tons handled in 2003. Over the past three years, Antwerp’s total port cargo volume has grown by one third.
   The port of Antwerp will open the new Deurganck dock container terminal in the middle of 2005.