Antwerp port sees fall in cargo throughput amid geopolitical tension and trade disputes
The Port of Antwerp-Bruges recorded a 4.1 per cent decrease in total cargo throughput last year, the port authority announced on Tuesday. Cargo throughput fell to 266.5 million tonnes.
2025 was not an easy year for the port, with geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, the war in Ukraine, trade disputes, persistent congestion at container terminals and several industrial actions. The 25 days of industrial action resulted in an estimated total loss of 2.4 million tonnes, or just under 1 per cent of annual transhipment.
“2025 highlighted how strongly geopolitical and economic developments impact the operations of a global port like Port of Antwerp-Bruges,” CEO Jacques Vandermeiren said. “We remain a strong import-export hub, but in 2025 we saw a shift towards a larger share of imports in most traffic flows.”
Against expectations, the US became Antwerp’s biggest trading partner last year, overtaking the UK. The port handled just over 31 million tonnes from the US, largely due to increased imports of liquefied gas (LNG). Due to US import duties, exports of containers, cars and steel from Belgium dropped. On iron and steel, the US currently applies a 50 per cent tariff, compared to 15 per cent on most other goods.
"We are not competing with Rotterdam but with China, and the cards are stacked against us"
Container imports from China increased by almost 4 per cent. China was previously the main source country for containers and will become so for cars by 2025, replacing Japan. Container exports to China fell by 4 per cent.
In recent weeks, AP Moller has withdrawn a billion-dollar investment at the port, while companies like Envalior and Exxon want to close entire departments and have announced major rounds of layoffs. “Unfortunately, there are still no solutions,” Vandermeiren says of the plight of the chemicals sector.
European politicians such as Wopke Hoekstra and Ursula von der Leyen will attend a summit in Antwerp next month to discuss the industry.
“The list of companies giving warnings is getting longer and longer,” says Vandermeiren. “We are not competing with Rotterdam but with China, and the cards are stacked against us. The competition with the Chinese will be extremely difficult to win.”
#FlandersNewsService | © PHOTO NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
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