SIMIC

CONTAINERIZED import volume at Haropa Port remained flat through 2022 at 3.1 million TEU, while the expanded inland waterway to Paris saw a 25 per cent increase in box traffic, reports S&P Global Media.

The 2021 merger of the ports of Le Havre, Rouen, and the river terminal in Paris into Haropa Port created a multimodal corridor into France's main consumer catchment area around Paris.



"In 2022, shippers grasped the opportunity to use Seine Axis rail and river transport as an alternative to road for their goods imports and exports," said Haropa Port planning director Cedric Virciglio.
Investment into terminals and port infrastructure is being made along the inland waterway, hoping to increase the share of river transport.
Mr Virciglio declared Le Havre was affected by the economic headwinds that led to slowing import volume across North Europe.
"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," said Mr Virciglio.
Antwerp-Bruges is the only other North Europe hub to report its 2022 figures, posting a 5.2 per cent year-over-year drop in 2022 volumes, to 13.5 million TEU.
Call sizes at Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Hamburg were up nine per cent in 2022 for the ten months through October compared with same period in 2021.
"We have noticed that the number of calls are being reduced and that the call sizes are bigger, so we must adapt our strategy to better handle bigger vessels with more concentrated port calls," said Haropa port deputy general manager Kris Danaradjou.