The Port of Antwerp-Bruges became the leading container port in the Hamburg-Le Havre range, overtaking the Port of Rotterdam in the first quarter of 2025.
It handled 3.44 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), slightly ahead of Rotterdam’s 3.36 million TEUs.
This marks a strong 4.5% increase in Antwerp’s container traffic compared to the same period last year.
Despite this growth in containers, the port’s total cargo volume dropped by 4.0%, coming down to 67.7 million tonnes.
The drop is mainly due to a decrease in both dry and liquid bulk cargoes.
Several factors contributed to Antwerp’s rise in container volumes. The recent restructuring of global container alliances and congestion at competing ports led to longer ship turnaround times.
These factors helped shift more traffic toward Antwerp, boosting its container throughput.
As a result, the port’s share in the Hamburg-Le Havre range rose to 30.5% in 2024, and its global ranking improved from 15th to 14th among the world’s top container ports.
While Rotterdam also saw a 2.2% increase in the number of containers handled, its total tonnage in this segment fell by 1.1%, suggesting lighter cargo loads.
The overall cargo throughput at Rotterdam dropped 5.8% to 103.7 million tonnes, with significant declines in crude oil, oil products, coal, and iron ore.
Antwerp’s liquid bulk segment recorded the steepest fall, down by 19.1%.
Gasoline, naphtha, and LNG volumes all dropped due to shifting market trends in Africa, lower demand from the petrochemical sector, and the impact of European sanctions on Russian LNG transshipment.
However, diesel volumes jumped by nearly 24%, and biofuels rose sharply by 128%, which helped balance out the drop in other chemical shipments.
On the roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) side, Antwerp managed a 1.1% increase, despite a notable 11.3% decrease in new car shipments.
This was offset by higher volumes of second-hand vehicles and unaccompanied trailers. Dry bulk cargo remained stable, with just a slight 0.8% dip.
Reference: portofantwerpbruges
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