Port of Antwerp-Bruges grows thanks to increase in container throughput
The port of Antwerp-Bruges handled a total of 277.7 million tonnes of goods in 2024. This is an increase of 2.3 percent compared to 2023, and is due to a strong increase in container handling, the port authority announced on Monday.
Last year's container results reverse the decline the port of Antwerp-Bruges experienced since 2020. In 2023, cargo throughput even fell by 5.5 per cent. At the time, the port pointed to geopolitical tensions, such as attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels, and the global slowdown in economic growth.
The return to growth is largely thanks to the "strong increase" in container throughput. "Containers are driving this growth. We are seeing an increase of up to 8.6 per cent in total container traffic," the merged ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge said on Monday.
The port handled a total of 13.5 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers last year, an increase of 8.1 per cent compared to 2023. A total of 148.9 million tonnes were handled by the port, an increase of 8.9 per cent compared to 2023.
Geopolitical tensions
The port has also managed to offset the loss of almost half a million containers to and from Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine with growth in other shipping areas. The port's market share in the so-called "Hamburg-Le Havre range" - the seaports in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and northern France - increased slightly.
In other areas, last year's results were not as strong. The construction, chemical and automotive sectors were particularly hard hit. According to the port authority, this is the result of geopolitical tensions and the resulting "rapidly changing markets".
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO POOL JOHANNA GERON
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