Marseilles Fos: bulk up, containers down

Marseilles Fos: bulk up, containers down The French port of Marseilles Fos said cargo throughput was 72.9 million tons in the first nine months of the year, up 1 percent from the year-earlier period.
   The port said overall improvement came as general cargo dropped 11 percent to 11.68 million tons, largely due to industrial action from April to June over the French government’s port reform proposals. Container volumes were down 17 percent in the period to 619,842 TEUs. Breakbulk cargo was down 9 percent to about 2 million tons and roll-on/roll-off traffic was up 4 percent to 3.4 million tons.
   Oil volumes rose 4 percent to about 48 million tons — crude was up 4 percent to reach 34.3 million tons and refined products rose 6 percent to 9.3 million tons. LNG was down 5 percent to 3 million tons while LPG was stable at 1.4 million tons.
   Dry bulks nudged 1 percent ahead for the period on 10.46 million tons following a 63 percent increase for September driven by coal imports. Liquid bulks improved 11 percent to 2.78 million tons, marked by a 67 percent rise in biofuels traffic to almost 700,000 tons.