Canada moves into second place among North Sea Port trade partners

Great Britain remained North Sea Port’s largest trade partner in 2025, handling nearly 5.8 million tonnes of maritime goods. Canada rose to second place with 5.4 million tonnes, overtaking the United States, which slipped to third, new figures show.

According to the Belgian-Dutch port authority, the rise in Canadian trade is linked to changing raw material flows. Chief executive Cas König said imports from Canada included almost one million tonnes more iron ore delivered to the port of Ghent.

Total seaborne cargo edged up by 0.4% to 67 million tonnes. Volumes were down earlier in the year but recovered strongly in the final quarter. Imports still account for about 70% of maritime traffic, with exports making up the remaining 30%, a share that is slowly increasing.

North Sea Port remains mainly a bulk port. Growth was driven by dry bulk cargo, up 2.1%, and liquid bulk, up 1.9%, together making up around three quarters of seaborne trade. Iron ore, fertilisers and scrap supported dry bulk growth, while liquid bulk benefited from higher volumes of biofuels, urea and aviation fuel.

Breakbulk traffic fell by 8.7%, while ro-ro volumes were stable. Container traffic grew by 7.8% but still represents a small share of total volumes.

Other key trade partners include Sweden, Brazil and Norway. Trade with Russia has almost completely stopped, with only non-sanctioned goods still being imported.

König warned that international trade restrictions could affect future volumes and called for more stable and open markets. 

^{#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK}