In the third quarter of this year, the port system of Antwerp-Zeebrugge handled around 65.4 million tonnes of goods, with a decrease of -7% over the same period in 2022. Unique An increasing flow of loads was that of the dry bulk totalling 3.6 million tonnes (+3%). Sharp decline in containerized cargo equal to 33.6 million tonnes (-7%). In the rolling stock sector, the traffic amounted to 5.1 million tonnes (-2%) and that of conventional goods of about 2.5 million tons (-22%). Liquid bulk, at 20.4 million tonnes, marked a decrease of -2%.

In the first nine months of 2023, overall traffic is amounted to 204.4 million tonnes, a decrease of -6% on the corresponding period last year. In the segment of container traffic amounted to 9.5 million TEUs (-7%).

"The persistence of economic and geopolitical problems - commented the CEO of the Authority Portuale, Jacques Vandermeiren - can be seen in the figures for several quarters now. The competitiveness of the industry European Union is under pressure due to high costs energy, raw materials and labour associated with low global demand. The indicators, he specified, do not still show no improvement for the foreseeable future and in the fourth quarter, container traffic will still be affected by the cancellation of travel from the Far East. Despite the fact that our productivity is less than the average of the Hamburg-Le Havre range and that we are gaining market share, we will have to face the fact that the 2023 will not be an exceptional year."