7% traffic escalation (waterway – rail – road) during the first six months of 2011

Liège, 29^th August 2011

A sharp increase was reported in the LiègePort Authority's waterway transport activities during the first half of 2011: 8,172,928 tonnes of waterborne freight was transhipped over the 6-month period, up 810,926 tonnes (+ 11%) on the first half of 2010. The upsurge is mainly attributed to imports of ores for ArcelorMittal's blast furnaces in Ougrée (+430,000 tonnes) and agricultural produce for BioWanze (+ 170,000 tonnes). The extractive sector companies (Dumont Wautier, Carmeuse…) underpin these positive figures, reporting that exports of quarrying products are up by some 200,000 tonnes.

 

13,760 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) was the level of container traffic handled by our two container terminals (Liege Container Terminal at Renory and Trilogiport Terminal at Monsin), or + 4,873 units, a 55% upturn compared with the first half of 2010. The growth in the level of container traffic is ascribed to the successful performance posted by all the regular services provided by the Liège Port Authority's concession-holders and their new burst of business vitality.

 

Road traffic achieved 2,134,804 tonnes, up 39,369 tonnes or +2 % compared with the first half of 2010.

 

Meanwhile, rail traffic was slightly down (7%) during the first six months of 2011, compared with the same period last year: 1,011,855 tonnes handled during the first half of 2011, down 78,420 tonnes, as a result of the recent wagonload price increases plus concerns about rail service providers.

 

Emile-Louis Bertrand, the Liège Port Authority's Chief Executive Officer, says "the LiègePort services have benefitted from the strong recovery in shipping activities worldwide and river traffic since 2010."

 

As for the outlook for the second half of the year, Emile-Louis Bertrand believes: "the prospects for the second half of the year are less clear, with business expected to decline as a result of a further slowdown in economic activity and, more importantly, the closure of the ArcelorMittal blast furnaces by the end of year. The shutdown means the immediate loss of iron ores for the LiègePort Authority and the end of activities at the Chertal coking plant and steelworks. Solely the rolling mill will continue to operate, served with slabs from Arcelor-Mittal-Dunkirk."