The Port of Antwerp and a little more

We went wandering today ... over to Putte in the Netherlands. We wanted to buy a few things that don't quite make it into Belgium.

Putte's close, the border is less than 30kms from home but we took the longest way, through Antwerp's port area ... photographing whatever we fancied along the way.

The Port of Antwerp is second only to Rotterdam, making it Europe's second biggest and the world's fourth largest port. In its quiet way it plays a leading role in international trade ... warehousing, packing, repacking, distribution and forwarding are all a part of everyday life here.

Two hundred and fifty trains come into and leave from the port on a daily basis. Almost half of the goods that pass through are dry or liquid bulk; goods like grain, coal, fertiliser, chemical and petroleum products. Port operators have over 5 million m2 in warehouse space for the specialised handling of iron and steel, fruit, forest products, cars, dangerous goods and sugar.

Antwerp is also one of the world's largest maritime centres for chemical and petrochemical production, second only to Houston,Texas. The container terminals in the port handle over six million TEU (twenty foot equivalent units) which makes it the third largest container port in Europe and approximately tenth in the world.

Antwerp continues to surprise me, slowly revealing herself as a major player in the diamond industry; a major maritime transport and logistics centre; as the (petro) chemical capital of Europe, and then there's the fashion ... with Bikkembergs and Van Noten to name only two of the famous 'Antwerp Six'