HAROPA PORT reported increased traffic for the first half of the year.
Maritime traffic stood at 41.95 million tonnes (Mt), up 8.8%, while the container segment rose by 16%, with a throughput of 1.46 million TEUs.
In its announcement, HAROPA said grain exports also increased 38% for the first six months of the year reaching 4.89Mt.
"HAROPA PORT completed a positive first half of 2024 with a total throughput of 41.95Mt of product," it said, adding that the 8.8% growth in maritime traffic translates into an additional 3.4Mt, compared with the figure in June 2023.
"France's leading port has been benefited by favourable economic headwinds stimulating the French and European markets," the announcement said.
Encouraging outlook for containers
HAROPA PORT noted that containerised traffic accounted for a tonnage of 14.51Mt, up 24%.
In terms of TEUs, the first half of 2024 registered 1.46 million TEUs, an increase of 16%.
The port noted that this positive dynamic was also reflected in hinterland traffic of 1.07 million TEUs, or an expansion of 6%.
"Specifically, full container traffic to and from the hinterland rose by 10.7%," it said.
Meanwhile, container transhipment outperformed the 2019 figure at 0.39 million TEUs, which HAROPA PORT said is a nod to the regularity of port calls and good maritime hub performance.
"These maritime container flows mark the beginning of a recovery that follows two downward-trending years," the port said. "Against the energised backdrop generated by this progressive upturn, HAROPA PORT is registering a particularly striking rebound. The economic context worldwide is also marked by maritime freight levels trending significantly upward."
It added that the rerouting of ships around the Cape of Good Hope is calling on high levels of capacity at a time when demand has been accelerating since May.
In terms of export destinations for its grain transport, the port said the top three were identical to the preceding year, were China (2.48Mt), followed by Morocco (2.07Mt) and Algeria (1.15Mt).
In terms of broad global regions, the Maghreb remained the leading destination with a total of 3.25Mt, ahead of Asia (2.55Mt) and West Africa (1.42Mt).
As of the end of June 2024, the transport modes used to bring the grain to port were split between 65% road, 25% river and 10% rail.
For the period, HAROPA PORT said maritime flows of vehicles via the ro-ro terminal continued their positive progression as of the end of June 2024 with a total of 155,237 vehicles, up 18% year-on-year or 23,200 vehicles more than June 2023.
