Container throughput at the Port of Marseilles-Fos picked up sharply in April to 225,726 TEUs, almost as much as the entire first quarter, resulting in a 1 percent increase in the first four months of 2009, the port authority said.
But the total container throughput of 284,715 TEUs in the first quarter was down by 11 percent from a year earlier.
Containers contributed 2.8 million metric tons to the general cargo total of 4.47 million metric tons in the four months through April, which was 19 percent lower than the same period last year as reduced demand in the steel and motor industries continued to hit ro-ro and conventional traffic.
Dry bulk throughput of 2.14 million metric tons was down 52 percent from the same four-month period last year due to a slump in steel industry demand for raw materials, while liquid bulks – where the mainstay is chemical products – fell 20 percent to 0.83 million metric tons despite a 77 percent increase in biofuels to 0.26 million metric tons.
But the total container throughput of 284,715 TEUs in the first quarter was down by 11 percent from a year earlier.
Containers contributed 2.8 million metric tons to the general cargo total of 4.47 million metric tons in the four months through April, which was 19 percent lower than the same period last year as reduced demand in the steel and motor industries continued to hit ro-ro and conventional traffic.
Dry bulk throughput of 2.14 million metric tons was down 52 percent from the same four-month period last year due to a slump in steel industry demand for raw materials, while liquid bulks – where the mainstay is chemical products – fell 20 percent to 0.83 million metric tons despite a 77 percent increase in biofuels to 0.26 million metric tons.