Every year some 22 million tonnes of goods transit through the port of Brussels. Over a third of this traffic is conveyed by waterway, which is indeed remarkable for an inland port.
In 2010, the waterborne traffic generated by the port of Brussels itself reached a new record high, exceeding the historical threshold of 4.8 million tonnes and bringing the overall total transported by waterway to 6.3 million tonnes. Containerized shipments, for their part, represented 18,000 TEU.
In short, this means that thanks to the port of Brussels over 600,000 road vehicles avoided further congestion of the city centre.
In terms of weighted traffic flows and value added for the port, the figure here of 5.4 million tonnes is even more outstanding.
It is to be noted that building materials, followed by oil and petroleum products, account for much of the port tonnage handled. This clearly illustrates the importance of inland ports such as Brussels in terms of urban supply and transport.