Port of Antwerp-Bruges’ throughput declines in the first quarter of 2023

The port’s total throughput in the first quarter of 2023 has declined 4.5% on the year to 68.7 million mt amid "complex geopolitical and macroeconomic" issues, which impacted cargo flows.

PHOTO: Oil tanker moored at an oil terminal in the Port of Antwerp. Getty Images

“This decline is due to the still complex geopolitical and macroeconomic context, which has led to a decline in the container segment and significant shifts in cargo flows,” the Antwerp-Bruges Port Authority says.

Dry bulk throughput in the first quarter fell 7.3% compared with the same period last year, mainly because of decreased inflows of fertilisers, it says.

Container cargo throughput in the first quarter dropped 6.6% on the year to 33.8 million mt. The port authority has attributed the fall in container activity to rising inflation and economic uncertainty which led to drop in demand for container shipping.

Meanwhile, liquid bulk throughput registered a growth of 0.5% in the same time frame. An increase in the throughput of LNG, mainly as “an alternative to natural gas via pipelines from Russia,” along with “growth in the throughput of diesel, fuel oil and energy gases” have supported the upswing, the port authority says.

“These results show that the world port is at the centre of a continuously challenging geopolitical and macroeconomic context. But despite these disappointing figures, the outlook for 2023 remains positive,” Port of Antwerp-Bruges’ chief executive Jacques Vandermeiren says.

By Tuhin Roy

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