Freight News, Sea


Haropa enjoys box boom

[ January 30, 2025   //   ]

Haropa Port (Le Havre, Rouen and Paris) saw a 18.7% surge in container traffic in 2024, pushing it to a record high of 3.1 million TEU.

Haropa said that it had enjoyed the fastest growth in containers of any port in the Northern range in Europe, with its market share (based on the first nine months of 2024) now standing at 7.1%, compared with 6.4% in the previous year.

Transhipment saw historic growth of 56% compared with the previous year, reaching 900,000teu, the highest in five years and comes at a time of plateauing traffic across the Northern Range.

In 2025, Haropa’s Port 2000 area will add a further seven TiL MSC gantry cranes, following on from the arrival of the first two in November 2024. These, the world’s biggest gantry cranes, will be used by TNMSC (Terminal de Normandie) and TPO (Terminal Porte Océane) and will further enhance productivity.

Total maritime traffic at Haropa was up 2.4% to 83.2 million tonnes, with the gains in containers falls in dry and liquid bulk of -8% and -5% respectively.

After declining in 2023, ro-ro traffic bounced back by 5.6% with throughput of 272,563 vehicles at Le Havre despite a challenging market environment caused by falling sales of both internal combustion and electric cars in France.

Le Havre has regular ro ro ferry services to Portsmouth although services to Ireland stopped last year. However, Haropa is hopeful that these will be restarted.

The port is also in discussions with the ports of Cork and Waterford about starting container links.

Haropa meanwhile continues to develop links with overseas countries including the US, China, India and others. Demand for French luxury products and gourmet food remains strong worldwide. While President Trump’s stance on trade protectionism is a concern, Haropa remains confident that there will always be a strong consumer market for French products in the US and the wider world.

Meanwhile, Le Havre continues to develop its unique attributes, including the Seine corridor that brings maritime freight into the heart of Paris. A new barge terminal is being built outside the French capital, the first such venture since the 1970s.

The port is also developing a range of green industries including a lithium refinery, green hydrogen and e-methanol plants and it has 450 acres of greenfield land authorised for such developments.