LE HAVRE CONTAINER TRAFFIC UP 14% IN FIRST HALF

LE HAVRE CONTAINER TRAFFIC UP 14% IN FIRST HALF    The container traffic expanded by 14 percent at the port of Le Havre in the first half of this year, according to preliminary port statistics.
   Container volume, measured in metric tons, reached 8.11 million in the first half. The port said that container traffic growth contributed substantially to a 10-percent rise in general cargo traffic in the first half, to 9.74 million metric tons,    compared with the same period of 2001.
   Of the container traffic, transshipment rose by 36 percent in the first half, whereas import and export box volumes increased by a lesser percentage.
   Roll-on/roll-off traffic, also included in general cargo statistics, was flat, at about 380,000 tons.
   Total traffic at the port of Le Havre in the first half of 2002 decreased slightly, to 34.2 million tons, from 34.3 million tons in the same period of 2001. Traffic in liquid hydrocarbons (oil and gas) decreased by 7 percent over the same period.
   In a separate development, the port of Le Havre has signed a memorandum of intent with the French container shipping line CMA CGM and the stevedore G'n'rale de Manutention Portuaire for the operation of two new container berths at the Port 2000 expansion project. The first berths of Port 2000 will be operational between 2004 and 2006.