Port Autonome de Charleroi - PAC

Name

Port Autonome de Charleroi - PAC

Legal name

Port Autonome de Charleroi

Website

https://portcharleroi.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

1955

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Inland Port Operations

NAICS

Port and Harbor Operations (488310), Marine Cargo Handling (488320), Inland Water Transportation (48321)

SIC

Water Transportation (4400)

akta.pro primary industry

Maritime & Port Authorities (Public Ports, Harbors, Ferries Terminals) (BPAIALAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Inland / River Container Terminals (Barge-Served) (TLAHAAAD), Terminal Cargo Handling & Yard Operations (Receiving, Staging, Delivery) (TLAHALAB)

Keywords

• Inland port operations
• Multimodal freight transport
• Industrial land leasing
• Waterway logistics
• Port concession services

Headquarters

HQ city

Charleroi

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Concession Royalties: PAC leases port land to companies under concession agreements. Concession fees (royalties) vary by location (inside/outside urban area), surface type (dock, dock+rail, industrial land, industrial land+rail), and are published in the port's fee schedule (barèmes). Fees range from €0.1983/m²/year (industrial land outside city) to €1.5865/m²/year (dock+rail in agglomeration).
2. Tonnage and Usage Fees: PAC charges tonnage fees for goods handled at the port: trucks and wagons at €0.0496/t, boats at degressive rates (€0.0372 to €0.0093/t based on volume), and public quay fees of €4.9579/t for indivisible cargo or €0.0744/t for bulk cargo.
3. Additional Equipment Fees: Fees for additional equipment such as concrete surfaces (€0.2975/m²/year) and high-tension connections (€991.5741/year), with other equipment charged at 4% of PAC's investment cost.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Port Autonome de Charleroi manages and develops inland waterway port infrastructure along the Sambre River and Charleroi-Brussels Canal, leasing industrial land to companies via long-term concessions (up to 30 years) and providing multimodal (waterway/rail/road) freight handling and public quay services. It operates 477 hectares of industrial port land across 29 zones with 8 km of quays, hosting 100+ tenant companies and moving 5+ million tons of goods annually.

Product overview

Port Autonome de Charleroi (PAC) operates as a public port authority managing inland waterway infrastructure in Charleroi, Belgium. The organization offers a unified portfolio of port management services centered on three core offerings: (1) Port Infrastructure Management through leasing of 477 hectares across 29 port zones to approximately 100 concession-holding companies; (2) a Multimodal Transport Platform featuring an 8-km quay network including 1.5 km of public quays with loading zones, three inland docks, three zones with rail connections, and a trimodal terminal with portal crane for container handling; and (3) Intermodality Services facilitating cargo transport combining waterway, rail, and road modes. Supporting services include public quay access for non-concession waterway users, cargo handling operations (5+ million tonnes annually), and a 25% participation in SEDISOL for dredged sediment recycling. The port primarily handles ores and construction materials (57%) and metal products (19%).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Port concession leasing (industrial land) Long-term (up to 30 years) concession leases of industrial port land at PAC's 29 port zones, priced per square meter and indexed annually to the health index. Targeted at industrial and logistics companies needing long-term port-adjacent land tenure with trimodal transport access.
• Public quay services Short-term access to 8 km of public quays for cargo handling, transshipment, and short-term storage by barge operators, freight forwarders, and shipping companies.
• Trimodal transport platform Multimodal freight platform combining waterway, rail, and road handling at PAC's terminal infrastructure, used by industrial tenants and short-term quay customers to move goods between transport modes.
• Waterway tourism services Tourism-related services along PAC's inland waterways, leveraging the port's canal and river infrastructure for leisure and visitor activities.

Quantifiable outcome

• A barge (80m x 9.5m x 2.5m) carrying 1,350 tons travels without disturbance to residents, equivalent load would require 65 twenty-tonne trucks forming a 3.5km convoy
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SEDISOLcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSEDISOL is a center for the processing and recycling of dredging sediments. PAC holds 25% of shares (SPAQuE holds 25%, Ecoterres holds 50%). The facility has a unique processing capacity of over 300,000 tons per year — the largest in Europe — making it a key player in dredged sediment management and a core operational partnership for PAC's environmental services.
• NovandicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNovandi is a specialist in multimodal transport. Together with Nexans, Novandi developed a structuring logistics model using PAC's multimodal platform that transfers road freight to waterways, reducing congestion, cutting delivery times from 6 months to 10 days for certain permits, and lowering environmental impact. This partnership was recognized with the Walloon Region's 2025 Modal Shift Prize.
• AtriumcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAtrium is the company leasing the port's trimodal platform infrastructure and portal crane. It provides port, rail, and road handling services, making the multimodal platform operational and enabling container throughput at the port.
• BAMminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerBAM is a concrete batching company operating at the port under concession. BAM is also referenced as the owner of construction footage for the Marchienne-au-Pont bridge project connecting AMS Nord and AMS Sud sites.
• SPAQuEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSPAQuE (Société Publique d'Aide à l'Environnement) is a public company that remediates and redevelops former industrial sites in Wallonia. It holds 25% of SEDISOL shares alongside PAC (25%) and Ecoterres (50%), and is actively decontaminating former industrial port sites (e.g., LUMAT, Grand Ban) for reuse.
• EcoterrescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcoterres (part of the DEME Group) is a partner in SEDISOL holding 50% of shares. It specializes in environmental solutions and sediment treatment. It also operates offices and storage halls at the Grand Champ port zone.
• IGRETECminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIGRETEC is an intermunicipal development company for Charleroi. It manages pumping stations at port zones and represents one of the founding institutional partners. It also provides the guide to public funding referenced on the port's financial aid page.
• DTIM (Direction du Transport et de l'Intermodalité des Marchandises)coreOthersDTIM is the Walloon Directorate for Transport and Freight Intermodality. It organizes the annual awareness day on waterway freight transport and intermodality, and is the awarding body for the Modal Shift prize won by Nexans. The port participates in DTIM-organized events and EU-funded projects under DTIM programs.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Regional players

• Port autonome de Strasbourg: French autonomous inland port on the Rhine offering multimodal freight handling and industrial land leasing. Comparable in operating model to PAC but serves a different (French) geography with significantly larger scale and container volumes.

Direct peers

• duisport (Duisburger Hafen AG): World's largest inland port, operating trimodal (water/rail/road) container and bulk handling on the Rhine. Comparable to PAC as a multimodal inland port authority with industrial land leasing, concession management, and public-port governance model.
• Port de Bruxelles / Haven van Brussel: Autonomous inland port authority located at the opposite end of the Charleroi-Brussels canal from PAC. Operates as a multimodal port authority with concession leasing, public quays, and cargo handling on the same inland waterway network as PAC.
• Port Autonome de Liège: Belgium's other major autonomous inland port authority on the Meuse. Directly comparable to PAC as a public autonomous port managing multimodal infrastructure, concession-based land leasing, and tonnage fees for industrial freight in Wallonia.
• Port autonome de Namur: Belgian autonomous inland port authority on the Sambre/Meuse confluence. Comparable public port authority model managing port zones, concession holders, and freight tonnage for Walloon industrial customers in the same regional ecosystem as PAC.

Broad incumbents

• Port of Antwerp-Bruges: Belgium's largest port and one of Europe's biggest. While primarily a maritime port, it competes for Belgian industrial freight and inland logistics share with PAC; comparable in governance as a public autonomous entity with concession-based land management.
• HAROPA PORT (GPM Seine / Ports de Paris): Large French public port grouping combining maritime (Le Havre, Rouen) and inland (Paris) operations. Comparable to PAC as a public multimodal port authority but at vastly larger scale and broader geographic scope.

Others

• SPAQuE: Walloon public company for soil decontamination and brownfield redevelopment; holds 25% of SEDISOL alongside PAC and is actively decontaminating PAC's former industrial port zones (AMS Sud, LUMAT, Grand Ban) for reactivation.
• De Vlaamse Waterweg nv: Flemish public waterway authority managing inland navigation infrastructure across Flanders. Tangentially comparable to PAC as a public entity governing waterway assets and adjacent port operations, but focused on Flemish territory rather than Walloon.
• DEME Group (Environmental & Dredging): Belgian marine engineering, dredging, and environmental remediation group, parent of Ecoterres which holds 50% of SEDISOL alongside PAC. Relevant as a strategic partner providing sediment processing and environmental services tied to PAC's port operations.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/port-autonome-de-charleroi-pac

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Port Autonome de Charleroi - PAC