Antwerp set sights on expansion: Following the successful opening of the Deurganckdok, the Port of Antwerp is pressing ahead with yet more ambitious expansion plans

摘要

The Port of Antwerp is the second largest port in Europe and one of the top five in the world. It is also the largest European fruit port, with an annual volume of 1.3m tonnes. From January to September this year the port handled more than 144m tonnesof freight, a figure that represents growth of 7.2 per cent compared with the first nine months of 2007. According to Antwerp Port Authority's business development manager, Annelies de Jongh, the freight volume during the first three quarters of 2008 was 10m tonnes higher than for the same period a year before. This was both in terms of imports - which rose by 7.9 per cent - and on the export side, where volume increased by 6.3 percent.