The overall throughput at Port of Antwerp-Bruges totaled 139 million tons during the first six months of the year. This is an increase of 5.5 percentage compared with the similar period in the previous year. Although the current economic climate causes a decline in container shipping demand and other cargo flow patterns, the port’s own data have a more mixed outlook. With the present unstable economy, the port has been able to hold its own and also growing market share for container handling as compared to other ports of the Hamburg and Le Havre range.

The operational challenges and the congestion at container terminals have been overcome after two toughyears of deviant cargo being returned. It is the reason for a positive change during the second quarter (-4.6 percent in TEU) as compared to outcomes after the initial quarter (-5.8 percent for TEU). The uncertain economy, a decline in industrial production, and a lack of confidence among consumers are causing slower container transportation demand that could reach 9.9% during the first third quarter.

The result is a drop in the handling of containers at Port of Antwerp Bruges, which is 5.9 percent in tons and 5.2 percent in TEUs in comparison to the initial two months of the year 2022. In comparison to ports that are part of the Hamburg and Le Havre range, Port of Antwerp-Bruges’ share in the market is up by 1 percentage point up to 30.6 percent in the first quarter of 2023.

In spite of the slow economic growth traditional breakbulk has held up good. Throughput levels are consistent to the prior period of Covid-19 however, they are it is down 17.2 percentage points compared with the 2022 period and 2022, which had remarkably large throughput levels due to the strong recovery post-Covid-19. The economy’s slowing pace is also associated with a drop in steel demand – the biggest cargo group in this sector. Steel throughput, including export and import, fell overall by 18%.

Main European fruit port

As opposed to the overall reduction in throughput of container containers the quantity of containers with reefers increased by 10.6 percentage points compared with the identical period of last year. A significant portion of items in these containers are fruits: pineapples, bananas, kiwis melons, citrus fruits lychees …. handling these food items demands the required knowledge and skills of terminals that are specialised as well as logistic service providers take care of. This makes the Port of Antwerp Bruges the largest fruit terminal in Europe.

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Port from Antwerp-Bruges

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