The Port of Antwerp lies on the banks of the River Schelde about 88 kilometers from the North Sea in Belgium.

In 2005, the American Association of Port Authorities reported that the Port of Antwerp was the second busiest port in Europe and the 17th busiest in the world (defined by the amount of cargo handled) in 2005. And also port Antwerp is the second-largest port in the Europe.

In 2008, the Port of Antwerp handled a total of 189.4 million tons of cargo, including 122.7 million tons of general cargo and 66.7 million tons of bulk cargo. This included 101.4 million tons of containerized cargo in 8.7 million TEUs and 4.4 million tons of roll-on/roll-off cargoes. Of the total volume, 105 million tons were imports (unloaded), and 5.6 million tons were exports (loaded). General cargoes included 10.5 million tons of iron and steel, 2.4 million tons of paper and cellulose, and 1.4 million tons of fruit as well as smaller volumes of granite, flour, wood, fertilizers and chemicals, and sugar. Bulk cargoes were dominated by petroleum derivatives (almost 25 million tons), coal (9.9 million tons), ores (7.1 million tons), chemicals (9.4 million tons) as well as smaller volumes of petroleum, fertilizers, sand and gravel, and cereals.