After reaching the record level of 77 million tons (Mt) of goods in 2022, this freight volume fell to 72 Mt in 2023, reported its president Hervé Martel, although sales increased by 10.8 percent and 210.5 million euros, he said, adding.
Container traffic (-11 percent) is among those that have fallen the most in 2023, as has solid bulk traffic (-24), while liquid bulk traffic enjoys “perfect stability,” Martel noted.
The passenger sector was the only one to show excellent momentum, with the number of passengers worldwide increasing by 36 percent to over four million people in 2023 and cruise activity in particular increasing by 76 percent with 2.5 million passengers.
Among the causes explaining the decline in container and bulk cargo traffic, Christophe Castaner, President of the Port's Supervisory Board, noted that “the international context is characterized by geopolitical instability” and cited the war conflict in Ukraine in the first place. , as well as the rise in inflation and interest rates.
At the same time, he warned about the situation in the Red Sea, where the Houthi rebels are attacking the merchant fleet linked to Israel in solidarity with Palestine, saying that so far this has had “no massive impact on the flows (from the port of Marseille) , but if things continue like this, there will be some,” he said.
Finally, those responsible reported that of the 118 million euros in investments planned for 2024, 57 million will flow into the development of the ecopark. Transition and decarbonization.
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