Since 3 May 2011, the port of Le Havre has been emphasizing a new dynamic focusing on the criteria of reliability, competitiveness and the service quality customers expect to receive.
At the end of 2011, and despite seeing the start of an upturn in the second half of the year (up 4% compared with the same period in 2010), overall tonnage processed at the Port of Le Havre reported a decline of 4% in relation to 2010.
Containerised traffic found its way back to growth over the course of the year (2.22 million TEU and 21.6 Mt that is 32 % all Le Havre port tonnage) but ended it by reporting a decline of 6% linked to the drop in trans-shipment (?28%). Poor results in the first quarter (483,000 TEU) were partly compensated for over the following months. At 559,000 TEU, the second quarter showed a distinct recovery and was up by 16% compared with the first quarter. The peak in activity was achieved in summer 2011 with 600,000 TEU. Although there was growth of 5.7% compared with the same period in 2010, the fourth quarter slowed somewhat with 576,000 TEU.For dry bulks, 2011 was notable for a reduction in tonnage to the tune of 10%, down to 3.1 Mt. This decrease is linked to
the 37% drop in coal traffic flows which correlates in particular with the clement spring and year end. In addition, strong growth in building materials was seen (sand, gravel and crushed stone), which grew by 59% to almost 1.3 Mt, along with cement traffic which was up 18% to 0.4Mt.