In brief: Port of Antwerp-Bruges reported on October 20 that container throughput grew 1.2% in TEU terms over the first nine months of 2026, its best quarterly container performance since late 2020, even as total cargo volume slipped 0.8% year on year to 200.9 million tonnes.
Container tonnage actually fell 0.6%, because empty containers rose 11.7% in TEU while loaded containers declined 1.3% — a sign of imbalance between inbound and outbound trade. Roll-on/roll-off traffic climbed 5.5%, driven by a 9.3% jump in new-vehicle imports from China and Japan. Dry bulk rose 13% on higher iron-ore volumes, but conventional general cargo fell 16.6%, with iron and steel shipments down 17.5%. The port attributed the steel decline to EU import quotas, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and high European energy costs; container exports to the Persian Gulf dropped 70% while shipments to other Middle Eastern destinations nearly quintupled.
For shippers and forwarders, the figures point to resilient box demand into Europe’s largest container cluster alongside continued weakness in European steel exports and a widening gap between full and empty container moves — worth watching when booking capacity or planning backhauls through Antwerp-Bruges.
Source: Port of Antwerp-Bruges, October 20, 2026.