Mixed results for Marseille Fos

The French port of Marseilles Fos has announced mixed half year results, with container traffic up by 7% to 583,287 teu compared to the same period in 2013, but total cargo throughput down 6% to 38.23m tonnes.

Container handling was bolstered by a 10% increase at the deep-sea Fos terminals but the decline of the oil trades, in line with market trends, hurt cargo movement.

General cargo saw a 2.2% rise to 8.88m tonnes, which was boosted by container performance and a 3% increase in conventional traffic, but this was offset by a 6% fall in ro-ro due to industrial disputes at ferry operator SNCM in January and June.