The Port of Brussels terminal will expand from 1,67 hectares to an area of 6 hectares. It has concluded a service concession for the container terminal and the development of a logistics zone with Van Moer Logistics. The agreement is part of the regional strategy to supply the Brussels service economy with goods in a more sustainable way.

The expansion should gradually double Brussels container traffic and logistics activities over ten years. By 2032, 127 000 twenty-foot containers or TEUs, a standard container size, should pass through the terminal, up from 57 000 TEUs in 2022. Or 80 000 TEU by waterway, 12 000 TEU by rail, and 35 000 TEU in transit. This represents an increase from 500 000 tons to 1 million tons of goods.

Modal shift

The accompanying ‘modal shift’ should redirect goods transport away from roads toward waterways and rail tracks. For example, the Port of Brussels and the container terminal will be connected to the rail network in September.

“Each Brussels resident generates a transport of 40 tons of goods per year,” says Brussels Minister for the Environment and Climate Transition, Alain Maron (Ecolo). “Thanks to this new container terminal, these flows of goods will increasingly take place by waterway. Fewer trucks mean less noise pollution and cleaner air. This is a real added value to improve the quality of life in Brussels.”

According to Maron, logistics represents 17% of traffic in Brussels, but 25% of greenhouse gas emissions and more than 30% of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, one of the primary air pollutants for which the values recommended by the WHO in Brussels are exceeded mainly. Maron also points out that there are, on average, 2 000 fewer trucks on the roads daily thanks to the Port of Brussels.

Twenty-year concession

For the expansion and operation of the container terminal in the outer port and the development of a logistic zone or a warehouse of 15 000 m² on a site on the back quay – steps thus necessary for more sustainable urban logistics – the port has concluded a service concession with Van Moer Logistics.

The logistics service provider, operator of the Port of Brussel’s container terminal since 2021, has been awarded a service concession for this for 20 years, with the possibility of a 10-year extension. This also includes a financial injection of 23,5 million euros from the company during the concession period.

Van Moer Logistics will also take on the reinforcement works of the quay walls, which will double in length. In the process, the company will also take over the current portal crane and plan to construct a second new portal crane on the quay.

The accompanying decarbonization plan for the entire site includes a commitment to a green energy contract, using electric vehicles on the site, and installing solar panels on the future building.

‘Important step in intermodal strategy’

According to concessionary Van Moer Logistics, the plan will also benefit employment and create 144 jobs. Jo Van Moer, founder and managing director of Van Moer Logistics, calls obtaining the concession “an important step in our intermodal strategy”.

The company also sees the concession extension in the Port of Brussels as a springboard to develop future cargo flows to and from Wallonia.

Van Moer Logistics already operates the Antwerp ATO terminal as a co-owner, and on the Antwerp-Grobbendonk axis, it owns the Dennie Lockefeer Container Terminal. On the Antwerp-Leuven axis, it manages the terminal in Wilsele, and on the Antwerp-Brussels axis, the quays of Blue Gate Antwerp, Bornem, Grimbergen, and the Trimodal Terminal Brussels, which is now thus significantly expanded.