Antwerp Container Traffic Rose 2.3 Percent Last Year

Antwerp’s container traffic rose 2.3 percent year-over-year in 2011, pushing total volume at Europe’s second-largest port up 5 percent.

The rise in container traffic to a record 8.6 million 20-foot equivalent units maintained Antwerp’s ranking as Europe’s third-largest container port after Rotterdam and Hamburg. Total traffic climbed to 187.2 million metric tons from 178.2 million tons in 2010, driven by a 12.2 percent increase in liquid bulk shipments to just over 46 million tons.

The figures are higher than provisional estimates published at the end of December.

-- Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.