April 15 - Freight traffic at the Port of Antwerp got off to a flying start in 2016, the gateway having handled 53.26 million tonnes of cargoes during the first three months of the year, up 3.9 percent over 2015 levels.
Conventional breakbulk registered year-on-year growth during the trading period, thanks in part to a 14.5 percent increase in steel cargoes to 1,806,160 tonnes. At the end of March the total volume of conventional breakbulk stood at 2.37 million tonnes - an increase of 2.4 percent.
Ro-ro volumes remained almost static, up just 0.4 percent to 1.11 million tonnes. Container tonnage rose by 3.2 percent during the first quarter, finishing at 29.14 million tonnes.
Overall, March 2016 was the best month ever recorded in the Port of Antwerp in terms of freight volume handled, stated the Belgian gateway.
