Aluminium Duffel transports its export containers from the terminal TCT Willebroek (Hutchison Ports Belgium) to the port of Antwerp.
Aluminum producer 'Aluminium Duffel' will now transport its export containers by barge to the port of Antwerp instead of by road. On an annual basis, this is about 1,000 TEU and 56,000 less kilometers on the road.
Aluminium Duffel, part of the GFG Alliance, produces annually 200,000 tons of aluminum rolled products for various industries worldwide, from facade cladding to automotive materials. “In 2020 we started a study into alternatives for the transport of our products in collaboration with Multimodaal Vlaanderen. At that time we were already in contact with the inland terminal TCT Willebroek (Hutchison Ports Belgium). The reason was the fact that the company gives great importance to sustainability and wants to be CO2 neutral by 2030 through the CN30 initiative. Also the road works in Antwerp, which caused a lot of delays, played a role,” explains Brahim El Boussatati, shipping & warehousing manager at Aluminium Duffel.
Modal shift
The modal shift to inland shipping results in a saving of 56,000 road kilometers and 62 tons of CO2. “On average, about a thousand TEU will be transported by inland shipping on an annual basis. We are 13 kilometers away from the terminal in Willebroek, while to the port in Antwerp it's 25 to 30 kilometers. We collect the empty containers at the terminal and deliver full containers with packed aluminum back. A large part of the production capacity of 200,000 tons goes to European customers. Also there we are looking for intermodal transport by road, rail and shipping,” says El Boussatati.
Multimodaal Vlaanderen
Willy De Decker, expert at Multimodaal Vlaanderen, assisted the project. “In the past we had already investigated a project for the company that was then still operating under a different name, but that did not go ahead. We have kept in touch. After the takeover by Aluminium Duffel, contact was made again and we gave a presentation together with Martine Hiel, CEO of TCT Willebroek (Hutchison Ports Belgium). A few weeks later, the project was started and in the meantime the first containers are transported by inland shipping”, concludes De Decker.