EMEA News
NW Europe: Belgian Ports to Merge
The prospect of a merged port on Europe's northwestern coastline -- and more streamlined processes -- should help the bunkering sector, according to market observers.
The process of creating the new port, to be called Antwerp-Bruges, will take about a year to complete, according to trade media sources.
"If the ports co-ordinate and use the same systems and procedures, that would be better," a northwest European bunker trader told Ship & Bunker.
The move should also better position the port against regional giant Rotterdam, the trader added.
In terms of bunkers sold, Antwerp moved around 2.5 million metric tonnes (mt) of bunker fuel in 2020, according to port authority figures.
Just under half of that figure (1.2 million mt) was attributed to sales of very low sulfur fuel oil.
