The autonomous Port of Bordeaux is pleased to confirm that it is once again in excellent health. The port handled 8.3 million tonnes of cargo in 2007, representing an annual increase in activity of 1%. Philippe Deiss, the port’s Managing Director, is particularly happy with this result. “In January, there was an accident at the oil facilities that deprived us of an estimated 500,000 tonnes of traffic. Otherwise, we would have achieved a much better performance, which goes to show the extent to which the port is in a phase of new momentum,” he explains, secure in the knowledge that the lost traffic will be recovered this year.
But his forecast for 2008 is cautious. Although he predicts only a slight increase in activity (to 8.4 million tonnes), he adds that “it is more than likely that this figure will be adjusted upwards in the summer.” Firstly, because the Port of Bordeaux will no doubt take advantage of the current favourable climate for sea transportation, resulting from Asia’s rapid economic growth, road saturation and increased road haulage costs, to capture market share.
This has already been borne out by the significant growth in the port’s container traffic, which was up by 8% in 2006 and by 20% last year when a total of 65,000 containers were handled, representing 660,000 tonnes of cargo. “We broke our all-time record within this segment in 2007,” says Philippe Deiss. And secondly because there are obviously some major projects in the pipeline. Although the Dutch company 4Gas, which is contemplating the construction of a liquid natural gas terminal at Le Verdon, has still neither confirmed nor denied its plans, other projects are underway. For instance, Géovia Verdon is planning to set up a five-hectare logistics warehouse for the importation of containers. The plans are well advanced and could lead to a 50% increase in container traffic. Another major, high-volume project, invol-ving the importation of marine aggregate, is also planned.
Restructuring and competitiveness strategy
The Port of Bordeaux owes its strong results and encouraging prospects to the major restructuring efforts that have been implemented since the beginning of the 2000s in terms of workforce and equipment. The initiatives were introduced to regain ground that had been lost to the port’s main competitors, thereby improving its competitiveness. “We redefined our strategy with regard to equipment, our relationship with the private sector and cost management,” explains Philippe Deiss. The first phase of the plan involved modernizing the port platform, which enabled the Port of Bordeaux to win back the confidence of private operators and to open itself up to investment. For instance, Sea-Invest, a leading stevedoring company in France, has invested more than 30 million euros over the last five years. This is a considerable amount, but there are other examples. Ciments Lafarge and Michelin, to mention but the most well known companies, have also supported the port’s transition.
“For every euro invested by the port itself, with state and local government aid, investors put in the double. This support has resulted in an acceleration in the process of modernization of the port,” points out Philippe Deiss. It is currently advancing at an average rate of 20 to 30 million euros of investment each year, half of which is represented by private capital. And this is no doubt only the beginning. The reform plan for France’s autonomous ports that was announced by the government in January should enable the Port of Bordeaux to go even further down this route to attract new investors. And it certainly has the means to do so. “Thanks to the port’s reserves of real estate and the under-use of some of its sites, it has no difficulty in maintaining a rhythm of sustained growth,” says Philippe Deiss. But at the same time, the port has to consider the essential requirement of safeguarding the outstanding environment of Europe’s last wild estuary.
The Port of Bordeaux has applied for European EcoPort certification, which should be granted this year. “This is a fundamental step for us. Our development involves the need to accommodate often heavy industries, which we could not envisage without strict environmental standards. Although this offers certain commercial advantages, it involves above all, and first and foremost, an acceptance of the port by all the surrounding areas,” explains Philippe Deiss. If the certification is awarded, the Port of Bordeaux will become the second French port to receive it, but only the first following the introduction of new standards.
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