Port of Antwerp plays an increasingly important role in the reefer market. A growing number of reefer services from Latin America now call first at Antwerp. This resulted in strong expansion of 7.2% in the volume of reefer containers in 2019. The port’s favourable location and excellent level of service have convinced shipping companies to choose Antwerp as their first port of call.
Strong growth in reefer segment
2019 was a record year for Port of Antwerp for the seventh year in a row, with growth of 1.2% and a total freight volume of 238 million tonnes of cargo. During the past year the port once again experienced strong growth in perishables, handling a total of 871,757 TEU of reefer containers, up 7.2% compared with the previous year. This rapid progression is the consequence of the increasing number of reefer services from Latin America choosing Antwerp as their first port of call in Europe. Latin America is the world’s largest exporter of perishables to Europe.
Advantages of Antwerp: favourable location and excellent service
Container shipping companies operating in the big reefer markets of Latin American are increasingly choosing Antwerp as their first European port of call. Antwerp’s central position deep inland offers shippers short transit times for perishables on their way to large consumer markets in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany and beyond. Furthermore the port’s experienced service providers offer fast, high-quality unloading and storage, as well as added-value services and completion of customs and food inspection formalities. Far-reaching digitisation such as the ViSiGiP platform also allows shippers to visually follow the reporting and inspection process at the border inspection post, which in turn makes for a simpler, more efficient process. Recently also the Flemish government took a crucial decision for construction of additional container handling capacity in the port of Antwerp, so that sufficient handling capability will be assured in future to cope with the strong growth in freight volume.
Ingrid Vanstreels, Key Account manager Shippers & Forwarders at Port of Antwerp: “”Port of Antwerp has the ambition to be the leading perishables port in Europe. These growth figures confirm that our efforts and investments to ensure top-quality service are appreciated. Antwerp is the first port of call in continental Europe for four out of the five weekly reefer services from Latin America”