After the first nine months of 2022, container throughput at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges is down 8.8% in terms of tons and 5% in terms of TEUs compared to the same period last year.
The decline is the result of the ongoing disruption of container logistics and the effects of the conflict in Ukraine, according to the port’s announcement.
“Containers are still not rotating sufficiently due to congestion and this is resulting in the throughput of full containers falling, while that of empty containers is rising,” said Port of Antwerp-Bruges in an announcement.
“Although operational challenges are slowly diminishing, the still heavily disrupted container liner shipping is not forecast to return to normal until the first quarter of 2023,” noted the European port.
From January to September, the total throughput of the major Belgian port was 217.4 million tonnes, representing a slight increase of 0.8% compared to the same period last year.
During the same period, conventional breakbulk grew by 9.7%, roll-on/roll-off traffic saw an increase of 8.1%, while the liquid bulk segment recorded a growth of 13.3%.
Dirk De fauw, mayor of the city of Bruges and vice-chairman of the port of Antwerp-Bruges commented, “The growth in LNG throughput confirms the important position of Port of Antwerp-Bruges in that segment. In addition, we recently received two new Far East services and were included as the first port of discharge in Europe on MSC’s ‘NWC – USA – SAWC Service’. Together with the new investments, this will continue to strengthen our international position.”
