Growth despite the corona crisis
Port of Antwerp: strong growth in the first half of the year
In the first six months of this year, the port of Antwerp handled 120 million tons, which is five percent more than in the same period in 2020 and status quo compared to 2019. Despite the effects of the ongoing corona crisis and Brexit, many cargo flows recorded growth. Throughput with the United Kingdom and Ireland also generated positive figures. The expanded shortsea connections in response to Brexit are thus meeting expectations.
Shipping containers are the only freight type that has grown continuously since 2014 - in the first half of the year with an increase of 4.3% compared to 2020 and 3.9% compared to 2019 (in tons). Conventional general cargo grew by 41.2% compared to 2020 and corresponds to the throughput of the first six months of 2019. The throughput of iron and steel, the main commodity group in this segment, increased by 37.8%, which is due to a peak in the delivery of steel. RoRo also performed very well in 2021, increasing by 22% compared to the first half of 2020.
The throughput of dry bulk increased by 7.5% and fluctuates more as some products, such as fertilizers, are seasonal. Liquid bulk grew slightly by 1.2% compared to 2020, but fell by 6.1% compared to 2019. In May, the volume of fuels was the highest since October last year, while the throughput of chemicals increased by 8.9% compared to 2020. Global demand for chemicals is booming due to the recovery in industrial production and is above pre-pandemic levels.
Brexit effects: Growth in a shrinking market
With an annual freight volume of around 15 million tons, the United Kingdom is the third-largest maritime trading partner for the port of Antwerp. Brexit at the beginning of this year therefore brought major challenges in the form of more complex administration, more controls and, as a result, congestion, longer transit times and higher costs. As a result of Brexit, the flow of goods between the EU and the UK is declining. Despite these difficult conditions, the port of Antwerp recorded growth of 11.1 percent in total throughput with the United Kingdom and 12.1 percent with Ireland in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2020.
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