Marseilles Container Traffic on the Rise

Container throughput at the Port of Marseilles totaled 826,000 teu to the end of October - a 3.7 rise on the first ten months last year - marked by a 6.8% increase to 586,000 teu on east-west volumes through Fos. Box tonnage of 8.37 million tons (+6.9%) helped general cargo to a 5.1% improvement on 14.48MT, which also included a 6% rise in RoRo traffic to 3.65MT. Liquid bulks maintained the upward trend, finishing the period 6.6% better on 2.83MT, but total port traffic slipped 3.5% to 80.24MT due to continuing lower demand in the high volume oil and dry bulk sectors. Warm weather saw oil throughput 2% worse at 51.93MT despite a three-point rally in crude imports to 37MT. Against 4% growth in LNG to 3.41MT, refined products and LPG were down 15% on 11.5MT. Meanwhile dry bulk cargo fell 19.8% to around 11MT as a result of reduced steel industry activity. Passenger throughput was up 1.6% for the ten months on 1.866 million. The cruise sector gained 11% with 390,000 passengers to move within sight of its 400,000 target for the year, while a recovery in Corsica and North Africa carryings left ferry services just 1% down on 1.476 million.