Freight traffic at the French Port of Marseille grows 8% to 80.6M tonnes
With an 8 % increase in the volume of activity, liquid bulk cargo, Marseille reached its 2017 diversification objective and compensated the anticipated 2.7 Mt drop in the crude oil and oil products sector in a year. It is the largest port in France, with close to 81 Mt traffic, and along with the ports of the Medlink network on the Mediterranean-Rhône-Saône axis, it is the largest port complex in France, generating 103 Mt traffic overall, thus confirming its position as the South Gateway to Europe. In 2018, the port will continue to implement its dynamic policy, in particular through internationalisation and the energy transition, the port authority said in a press release.
The year 2017 was marked by new projects and an overall 8 % increase in all traffic – excluding crude oil and oil products, enabling the port of Marseille Fos to maintain a volume of traffic equivalent to that of 2016, despite Total discontinuing its crude oil activity in the Mède refinery.
With an increase twice the European average in 2017 (+ 10 %), the container activity continued to grow for the 6th consecutive year and confirmed the strategy to reconquer market shares in Marseille Fos.
A GROWING ACTIVITY FOR ALL FREIGHT SECTORS
The general cargo segment increased by 11 %, with a significant 18 % growth for new cars: i.e. over 30,000 additional new vehicles in 2017. The good health of this sector will be sustained in 2018 by the sale of 11 additional hectares dedicated to this activity to the North of darse 3 (Fos basin). Roro traffic benefited from the dynamism of traffic with Corsica (+ 9 %), where significant market shares were gained. Thus, all the trailers from Corsica and Maghreb also showed a significant growth of + 11 % in units transported.
The container activity, which increased for the 6th consecutive year (+ 10 % in 2017), came close to the 1.4 million TEU mark in 2017. These excellent results are linked to the intense activity of the Fos harbours and the opening of new lines in the Marseille harbours. The passenger activity for regular shipping lines increased by 7 % (1.2 million passengers), driven by the dynamism of traffic bound for Algeria, whereas Corsica recovered a noteworthy growth in the number of passengers in Marseille (+ 8 %).
As regards the cruise activity, after a slight contraction in 2017, the activity will start to grow again in 2018: close to 530 stopovers are scheduled (Vs 430 in 2017) and close to 1,750,000 cruise passengers are expected. The commissioning of dry dock 10 - the largest dry dock in the Mediterranean – reinforces the attractiveness of the Marseille destination for cruise companies as regards industrial aspects. This unique installation in Europe now offers all the ship repair services for very large units and has already accommodated 3 mega-cruise ships since its commissioning this year.
The 2 million cruise passengers target for 2020 is more than ever confirmed. With + 5 % growth, the year 2017 showed the good health of the solid bulk cargo traffic in Marseille, a dynamism that is not shared everywhere in Europe. The good figures for steel and the traffic diversification at Carfos have both contributed to this result. 1.5 Mt additional solid bulk cargo is already announced for 2018 in the ore terminal of Fos with the new traffic of rocks and aggregates to be shipped to Monaco by sea as part of the project to build the Anse du Portier eco-district.
In 2018, conventional transport could still benefit from good prospects due to the commissioning of the Roro landing in Fos dedicated to packages of up to 800 tons, in particular as part of the ITER project. Rail transport also obtained good results: 140,000 TEU in 2017, establishing a historic record with an increase of more than 14 %.
The long-awaited new rail shuttle towards French-speaking Switzerland will be commissioned in March 2018, with 3 rotations per week. The harbours of Marseille Fos thus improve the access to an extended European hinterland, beyond France. In 2017, 55 hectares were developed and sold for the freight logistics activity alone. As regards surfaces dedicated to logistics and industry, 101 hectares of new activities will be pre-developed by the port of Marseille Fos in 2018.
INVESTMENTS BACKED BY A GROWING ACTIVITY The 2017 turnover for Marseille Fos is expected to total around 160 million euro, i.e. a 7.3 % increase. The recovery of the financial trajectory over the past three years thus makes it possible to deploy an active policy for the port of Marseille Fos as regards investments, which reinforces the attractiveness and robustness of the infrastructures provided to customers. Overall, close to 50 million euro (€47.8 M) were invested in 2017 to increase the port's attractiveness. In addition to a significant budget set aside to maintain the existing infrastructures (€15.1 M), €30 M were dedicated to development projects, such as widening the accesses to North Passage (€14.6 M), the development of the Corsica and Maghreb terminals (€2.5 M), as well as the ITER heavy package space (€2.3 M) and the commissioning of dry dock 10.
2018 DEDICATED TO INNOVATIVE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY PROJECTS
Leader in France and the Mediterranean, Marseille Fos is a port turned towards the future, keen to develop and diversify its traditional activities, as well as promote innovation and the energy transition. A reference among these cutting-edge projects, and along with the ship-owner Corsica Linea, the port of Marseille Fos's strategy to connect ships to the electrical network from the dock will continue in 2018 (already implemented for the ship-owner La Méridionale). The maritime company Corsica Linea continues to grow and consolidate its anchoring in Marseille by focussing on a sustainable activity, concerned with its environmental footprint. Corsica Linea and the Port of Marseille have thus reached an agreement to equip the Morocco docks and three of the company's ships, making it possible to connect these at the dock during stopovers, an investment for the future backed by Ademe and the Provence Alpes Côtes d’Azur Region. 2018 is also the year for other ambitious projects such as the call for projects for the J1, the continued works on the Cap Janet international terminal, and the launch of the junction works for the container terminals in Fos.
The investment budget for 2018 is set to 82 million euro. As regards the port's energy transition commitment, a constant concern in all the files processed, let us mention in particular:
• the implementation of the Environmental Ship Index (the port offers a bonus to the "greenest" maritime companies),
• the installation of photovoltaic panels (16,000 m² installed in the East harbours, to which must be added the 15,000 m² commissioned at the end of 2017 on the land of ArcelorMittal in Fos-sur-Mer),
• the launch of Massileo with EDF EN (a new water-heating network, producing both heat and airconditioning for the Allard eco-district),
• the Vasco 2 project (recovery of industrial smoke: first seaweed harvests to be refined),
• in July, the port of Marseille Fos signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the LNG Focus Group, which groups the major world ports who commit to work together for the development and promotion of LNG as a maritime fuel,
• Jupiter 1000, the first French “power to gas” project to lay its foundation stone.
ALONG WITH THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF THE PORT
In 2018, the port of Marseille Fos, the “French smart port in Med”, will become even more international, even smarter, a leader both in France and the Mediterranean. Thus, we can mention the future implantation of the European plant of the Chinese industrialist Quechen Silicon Chemical in the industrial port area of Fos, the continued development of the rail shuttles beyond the French borders, the international showcase of the redevelopment projects for the J1, the organisation of the second edition of the MEDports Forum, to be held on 7 and 8 February 2018 (an event gathering all the port authorities in the Mediterranean within a structure organised as a federating association).
In synergy with its partners, the port of Marseille Fos, a flagship company of the local economic system, boasts a dynamism at the service of sustainable development and internationalisation. A global actor, it fully takes part in the ambition to transform its territory's economy and environment.