October 14 - The Port of Antwerp handled 156,515,552 tonnes of freight in the first nine months of 2015 - a 5.5 percent year-on-year increase.

The port says that the steady growth in freight volumes suggest that Antwerp will end the year with a record 200 million tonnes of cargo handled.

Although overall cargo volumes were up in the reporting period, conventional breakbulk volumes fell by 1.8 percent year-on-year, which the port attributed to increasing containerisation of fruit and the consequent fall in conventional handling.

Steel and iron volumes were, however, up slightly by 2.4 percent to 4,983,794 tonnes in the reporting period. Meanwhile, the amount of ro-ro cargo handled at the port grew by 2.5 percent year-on-year to 3,463,315 tonnes.

www.portofantwerp.com