Dunkirk reports 2.4% rise in traffic for H1

Container traffic at the French port remained steady, at 100,000 teu over the six months. Overall imports, however, were up by 1% to 19.9m tonnes, while exports rose by 7% to 8.2m tonnes. Petroleum products, at 6.5m tonnes, were down by 5% compared with 2005, although this was an exceptional year. Volumes of ores were up by 3% at 6.9m tonnes and of coal up 8% at 5.1m tonnes.

The volume of general cargo showed significant growth of 8%, to stand at a total of 6.9m tonnes. Ro-ro traffic between Dunkirk and the UK continued to rise, growing by 11% to reach 5.1m tonnes. This consisted of 240,000 freight vehicles and 600,000 passengers and drivers.