CONTAINER traffic at the port of Antwerp in 2011 increased two per cent year on year to a record 8.64 million TEU, according to provisional figures released by the port authority.
Officials said the record box throughput demonstrated that in comparison with other ports in the Hamburg-Le Havre range relatively few empties were repositioned in Antwerp.
The port's overall cargo volume during the year increased 4.6 per cent to 186.4 million tonnes compared to 178.2 million tonnes in 2010.
Breakbulk surged 14.8 per cent compared to last year to 12.77 tonnes. "These growth figures show that the difficult situation in which this segment found itself has partially improved, although a great deal of work remains to be done," the authority said.
"This initiative should reinforce the competitive position of Antwerp, which is still the largest breakbulk port in Europe," said the Port Authority's CEO, Eddy Bruyninckx.
The volume of bulk freight increased by 6.3 per cent to 64.59 million tonnes, thanks mainly to the large increase in liquid bulk which expanded by 12.4 per cent to 46.09 million tonnes.
"These strong growth figures demonstrate the dynamism of the tank storage companies. They also show that the reconversion of the former breakbulk areas in our port into tank storage areas over the past few decades has been beneficial," Mr Bruyninckx said.
Dry bulk on the other hand was down by 6.5 per cent to 18.49 million tonnes, due largely to lower imports of ore and fertilisers.
Ro-ro volume surged 13.3 per cent to 4.22 million tonnes, while the number of cars handled by the facility soared 14.7 per cent to 1.06 million.
The number of ship calls at the port increased by three per cent in 2011 to 15,230.