January 20 - The port of Antwerp handled 187.152 million tonnes of freight last year.

This represents an increase of five percent compared with 2010, when the volume was 178.2 million tonnes. 

These definitive figures exceed the provisional estimates made at the end of December: the records announced before the turn of the year have turned out to be even higher. 

2011 saw the port handle a larger container volume (both in teu and in tonnage) than ever before, with container volumes up by 2.5 percent to 105,109,107 tonnes. In teu the increase was 2.3 percent, to 8,664,243 teu, a little higher than the record level of 2008 (8,663,736 teu).

Conventional/breakbulk cargoes were up by 14.1 percent, to 12,695,805 tonnes, with a large increase in the volume of steel products (up 28.8 percent).

The number of seagoing ships calling at the port also rose last year: in 2011 there were 15,240 calls, an increase of 3.1 percent. The number of barge calls finished the year at 59,428, an increase of 4 percent compared with 2010.

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