WHILE overall first half cargo volume in the Port of Brussels year on year by 13.1 per cent to 3.8 million tonnes, container traffic fell two per cent to 14,988 TEU.
But the Port of Brussels told Belga press agency, that container volumes should more than recover in the second half of the year.
The top-three categories of commodities remain unchanged compared to one year ago. Construction materials (58.9%), still outstrip petroleum products (23.7%) and the miscellaneous segment, which includes container traffic (7.7%).
Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort is delighted by the positive growth of traffic on the Brussels Canal (the northernmost part of the Brussels-Charleroi Canal). "The waterway has witnessed an increasing change in practices. The canal is becoming a genuine mobility link in Brussels," he said.
Exports were up 95 per cent 675,000 tonnes, mostly the result of the removal of dirt from a building site. Imports were up two per cent.