Midway through its 2014-2018 strategic plan, the French port Marseille Fos has reported a 9.7 increase in 2016 turnover which rose to EUR 148.7 million.

The surge was reported over the first two years of a growth initiative based on diversification of trades, tight cost control and developments to boost income from logistics and industrial tenants, the port said.

Since 2014, a heightened drive to complement the port’s oil and gas activity has seen increases of 12% in ro-ro volumes, 10% in passenger numbers and a notable 7% in containers.

Box throughput outstripped the European growth average with rises of 4% in 2015 and 3% in 2016 to reach last year’s port record of 1.25 million TEU.

Meanwhile internal and external costs fell 4.8% from EUR 117 million in 2014 to EUR 111.4 million in 2016, helping the gross operating surplus to almost double over the two years from EUR 22 million to EUR 42.1 million.

Additionally, the port of Marseille Fos informed that work on drawing up the next strategic plan, covering 2019-2023, is scheduled to start this year.