HAROPA PORT have shown resilience amid an international environment marked by numerous crises as it reported increased maritime traffic and more investments last year.
In 2022, the port saw maritime traffic stand at 85.1 Mt, an increase of 2% on the back of an exceptional trading year for cereals and a rise in liquid bulk flows.
"HAROPA PORT has been progressing despite a market in a downturn, demonstrating notable resilience, winning additional market share in the Northern Range and improving its modal shares on the Seine Axis," the fifth largest port in northern Europe said.
"The port, which began its transformation at the time of the merger in 2021, is now seeing the first significantly positive results with MSC’s historic decision to invest in reinforcing the Seine logistics corridor," it added.
Maritime traffic up 2%
HAROPA noted that container traffic remains at the record level achieved in the previous year, registering a throughput of 3.1 million TEUs, surpassing 3 million TEUs in 2021.
HAROPA PORT is also consolidating its position in an uncertain economic environment as it noted that its market share has progressed in a context marked by a general downturn in container traffic at the Northern Range ports.
In terms of liquid bulk, HAROPA ended 2022 up 5% (40.1Mt), buoyed by an expansion in crude oil traffic (+23% at 18.8Mt).
Dry bulk also saw growth of 3% (at 14.2Mt), boosted by a grain trading year up by 12% (8.6Mt).
"The conflict in Ukraine generated not only additional demand but also demand from countries rarely served in recent years, especially in the second half of 2022, when 5Mt was shipped, a record for this part of the year," HAROPA added.
For the year, Ro-ro traffic fell back by 11% (265,000 vehicles).
Adapting to a volatile market, the port switched from an export-led market to one dominated by imports, which required an overhaul of its parking areas.
"Eighteen months after its creation and following a historic year in which the symbolic level of 3 million TEU was surpassed, HAROPA PORT has consolidated its positioning. In addition to the remarkable resistance shown by traffic levels, key milestones have been achieved, foremost among them the announcement by MSC TiL last July that they would be investing €700 million over the period to 2028 to triple their container volume, making us a major port of entry for France and Europe and giving us the means to develop river-based services to the Paris basin," said Kris Danaradjou, HAROPA PORT deputy general manager.
Multimodal logistics corridor
In 2023, France's number one port intends to continue its investment and its transformation, developing the first decarbonised industrial ecosystem and continuing the structural development of its multimodal logistics corridor.
"In 2022, the global economy was impacted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, combined with the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation, which has reached levels not seen for several decades. And despite this, for HAROPA PORT, the year has been one of a change in scale and striking resistance to these headwinds in the context of strategic focuses approved by its supervisory board," said Cédric Virciglio, HAROPA PORT strategic planning director.
"These encouraging results and the consolidation of the port's strategy make HAROPA PORT an effective project for local regions and a key component of France's international outreach and sovereignty. This encourages us to pursue the transformation of France’s number 1 port," Virciglio added.
As a major pillar of HAROPA PORT's strategic project, the ecological and energy transition accounts for 16% of the port's investments in 2022 and will increase to 19% in 2023.
Following the deployment of a network of LNG service stations, a new generation of multi-energy stations will be set up at multimodal platforms in the Paris area at Gennevilliers, Bonneuil-Sur-Marne, Limay, Bruyères and Montereau.
HAROPA noted that these facilities would be able to distribute decarbonised hydrogen to meet the needs of road transport, as well as river transport, in a later phase.
In total, in 2022, €590 million (US$639 million) of public and private-sector investment will have been devoted to building this decarbonised industrial cluster.
Multimodal corridor
With their merger, the three ports of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris demonstrated their determination to develop a logistics corridor capable of carrying goods from around the world into the heart of France's biggest consumer catchment area.
In 2022, shippers grasped the opportunity to use Seine Axis rail and river transport as an alternative to the road for their goods imports and exports. The modal shares of rail and river rose from 12% to 13.3% for containers exiting Le Havre as of the end of October.
At Paris Terminal SA on the river, inland waterway activity handled increased by 25%.