Port Of Antwerp Seeks To Further Consolidate Market Share In North America

The cities being visited are Chicago, Montreal and Houston. Chicago is the logistics hub for the Midwest, and many shippers such as Kraft Foods, Caterpillar, John Deere and Sara Lee are based in or around this densely-populated metropolitan area. Montreal for its part is the largest Canadian trading partner for the port of Antwerp. Houston finally is home to the largest petrochemical cluster in the world, and as the largest American port it is the second-largest American trading partner of the port of Antwerp.

As the second-largest port in Europe, Antwerp has plenty of advantages to offer its North-American trading partners. Its location deep inland enables customers to get physically close to many large European markets, bringing the goods quickly and efficiently to their final destination. The presence of a well-developed logistics cluster with more than 5.5 million square metres of covered storage area means that customers benefit from a wide range of added-value activities. In addition Antwerp has the largest integrated petrochemical cluster in Europe, with wide-ranging expertise in for example tank storage, refining and waste processing. It is therefore hardly surprising that liquid bulk transshipment accounts for 25% of Antwerp's freight volume. Finally, Antwerp is accessible to the very largest container carriers. The largest lock in the world is under construction here, and safety has long been a top priority. In fact during a trade mission to New York in 2009 the Port of Antwerp was presented with a safety award by the National Nuclear Security Administration. The award was in recognition of the efforts that the port has made since 2007 to check intensively for the presence of radioactive substances at more than 40 points around the port area. This nuclear detection forms part of the worldwide Megaports initiative, and is intended among other things to deter any trade in nuclear weapons.  

Schedule:

Oct. 3: Chicago – annual networking cocktail party of the Port of Montreal. All the top forwarders will be at this event, and other important players including shipping companies and shippers will also be invited.

Oct. 4: Montreal – networking cocktail party for the ports of Antwerp and Montreal. Customers of the Port of Montreal – such as terminal operators and rail operators – are also expected.

Oct. 5: Montreal – Breakfast seminar organised by the port of Antwerp and the Manufacturers & Exporters of Quebec, the largest local shippers' organisation. The target group is made up of local importers and exporters as well as shippers, forwarders and shipping companies.

Oct. 8: Houston – round table with companies in the EPC (energy, procurement and construction) sector, in collaboration with the Port of Houston. The companies participating in the Break bulk Americas trade fair will be present, together with ten or so leading BCO's and project forwarders.

This will be followed by Breakbulk Americas from 9 to 11 October, at which the Port of Antwerp will have a booth in Hall E – booth number 615.

SOURCE Port of Antwerp