Market share won, boxes lost
Antwerp’s throughput suffered in 2023, yet the merger with Bruges still paid off. Altogether, 271 million t of cargo were handled in the major Belgian seaport in 2023, down 5.5% from the previous year. The port attributed the decline to "geopolitical tensions and slowing global economic growth".
A lower demand for commodities resulted in a decrease in container throughput of 6.3% in tonnes (137,2 million t) and 7.2% in teu (12.5 million teu), compared to 2022. In contrast, the port of Antwerp-Bruges' market share in the Hamburg - Le Havre range rose 0.6% points to 30.2% in 2023.
Throughput volumes in the conventional break bulk segment have normalised. Compared to 2022, total throughput was down 18.8%. The roll-on/roll-off traffic remain stable with a slight drop of 2.1%. Dry bulk was down 13.9% on last year.
The port therefore launched an EUR 2.9 million investment programme for the next ten years, which will include new infrastructure such as a quay wall for the Europa Terminal and residual land on the Left Bank. In 2023, a total of 20,156 seagoing vessels called at the port of Antwerp-Bruges, a drop of 4.2%. Yet, the total gross tonnage of these vessels grew by 2.6% to 657 million GT. (cd)