July 20 - The port of Antwerp has said that one of the reasons for the significant fall in freight volumes in the first six months of 2009 was the fact that tonnages in 2008 were inflated partially by the industrial dispute in Le Havre which saw cargo tra
Freight volumes through Antwerp fell by nearly 20 percent in the first six months of 2009 with the port handling 77m tonnes of freight. In the same period last year, volumes hit more than 96m tonnes.
Container volumes dropped 17.7 0.000000rom more than 52m tonnes last year to just under 43m tonnes while total teu handled was down 3.6m teu or 18.5%. Ro-ro traffic fell by a third as did the number of cars handled.
In regards to maritime traffic of project cargoes including heavy lift shipments, the port handled 148,000 tonnes in the first two quarters of 2009, compared to 150,000 tonnes in 2008.
