Container traffic gained four points in tonnage and unit terms on 8.8MT and 915,036 teu after further advances in both the Marseille and Fos harbour areas. Deepsea volumes at Fos were helped in early September with the maiden call of the 14,000 teu China Shipping Container Lines
vessel Venus following the company’s decision to increase capacity on its Asia-Mediterranean-Europe service. A port spokesman said: “The CSCL initiative is another sign of customer confidence in our offer as a cost-effective southern gateway alternative for major markets across Europe. In addition we continue to gain market share in our natural hinterland, which is key at a time of static economic growth in Asia. Such progress will help to support various development projects in the pipeline for 2016.”

The container performance nudged general cargo to a 1% rise on 13.5MT, which included 2.9MT from ro-ro (+4%) and a 6% increase in new car imports/exports for a total of 126,747 vehicles.

Liquid bulks finished four points better on 36.6MT, driven by 4% growth in crude oil and petroleum products to 33.9MT. Crude imports went up 6% at 19.6MT as refineries took further advantage of low prices. Their output balanced a consequent fall in imports of refined products, where total volumes held steady on 9.5MT. LPG soared 15% to 1.6 MT and LNG continued to close the deficit on last year to end the period three points down
on 3.1MT. Liquid chemicals and agro-products slipped 3% to 2.7MT due to a cracker unit in Lavera being out of service for six weeks in early summer but the operation has since returned to normal.

Dry bulks repeated the 8% half-year increase to reach 10.8MT for the nine months, with steel industry volumes – mainly raw materials imports – improving 6% on 7.5MT. Agro-bulks fell 12% to 0.66MT but other bulks contributed 2.6MT (+21%). Notable growth at the Carfos terminal was marked by large coal and bauxite consignments and 15,000t of spot traffic clinkers imports in September.

Passenger throughput was lifted 3% to 1.978 million thanks to the 14% rise in cruise numbers, which reached almost 1.1 million. This included 728,000 passengers in transit (+19%) and 362,000 home port passengers (+5%). Ferry carryings fell 9% to 887,000 with a 2% rise on North Africa services outweighed by a continued 13% drop for Corsica.

With over 40 years’ experience in the shipping industry including 10 years in the fertiliser market, Mr Guilloux is working with ISS Brazil to combine expertise and presence in the sector.

Following the new partnership, ISS Brazil has created a dedicated team to attend fertiliser ship calls in all Brazilian ports and will open four more offices across the country to expand its services. Three offices will open in the southern region in Paranagua, Rio Grande and Porto Alegre – while a further office will open in Recife in the northeast, taking its total offices in the country to 14.

Offering greater value and expertise to this specialist market, the dedicated ISS fertiliser team will manage all operations and processes, while a market intelligence department will provide customers with a range of tools including comparative port information, monthly reports, port alerts and customised analysis.

Brazil imported more than 24,000 million tonnes of fertiliser in 2014, mainly from the USA, Russia, Morocco and Canada, giving rise to around 1500 vessel calls to mostly southern ports. ISS Brazil recently attended two ships discharging fertiliser at Hermasa Terminal, Itacoatiara, in the Amazon region.

Henrique Schlaepfer, Managing Director, ISS Brazil commented: “We are delighted to be serving customers with four additional offices in Brazil as part of this initiative. Mr Guilloux has an excellent reputation in the market and is widely recognised both here and around the world for his expertise in the fertiliser sector.”