Port of Antwerp Bruges’ breakbulk throughput holding up

Conventional breakbulk throughput at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges is holding up quite well despite the weak economic climate. Throughput volumes in the first half of the year are in line with the pre-Covid-19 period at 5.3 million tons, but down 17.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2022, which showed exceptionally high throughput rates due to a strong post-Covid-19 recovery.

The slowing economy is accompanied by a decline in demand for steel – the most important cargo group within this segment. Steel throughput, both import and export, decreased in total by 18 per cent, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges said in its report.

Dry bulk down

The dry bulk segment was down by 12.9 per cent. Despite the sharp decline in both fertiliser and energy prices versus the peaks following the start of the war in Ukraine, the throughput of fertilisers – the largest product group within dry bulk – continues to decrease further (-19 per cent) and there is little rotation of stocks. Coal throughput, which peaked in 2022 due to the energy crisis and also rose in the first quarter, is also falling sharply after a mild winter and coal surpluses in Europe (-32.4 per cent). The throughput of sand and gravel grew by 16 per cent.

RoRo stays strong

Roll-on/roll-off traffic is continuing to see strong performance (+0.1 per cent). In the first six months of 2023, 1.8 million new cars were shipped in and out – up a whopping 15 per cent from 2022. Throughput of transport equipment grew by 3.6 per cent, while unaccompanied freight (excluding containers) fell by 2.1 per cent. Traffic related to Ireland increased by 16.7 per cent, but traffic to and from the United Kingdom declined by 4 per cent.

Overall throughput down

The total throughput of Port of Antwerp-Bruges was 139 million tonnes in the first six months of this year, a fall of 5.5 per cent compared to the same period last year. While the global economic situation is causing a drop in demand for container transport, other cargo flows show a mixed picture. In the current unstable economic conditions, the port is holding up well and is also gaining market share in container handling compared to the other ports in the Hamburg – Le Havre range.

Operational challenges and congestion at the container terminals were resolved after two difficult ​ years, with deviated cargo returning.

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