CARGOCONNECT-MAY23 - Flipbook - Page 53
S
ociété de Gestion
de Produits Pétroliers (SOGEPP)
approached
HAROPA PORT to
boost the river traffic to and
from its facilities in Gennevilliers, with the goal to
develop this traffic between
Normandy’s seaports and
the Paris area. According
to SOGEPP, the project will
reduce the carbon footprint
of Gennevilliers supply flows
and support the company in
the further development of
bio-based energy products
such as HVO hydro-treated
vegetable oil (HVO) as well
as B100, a biofuel 100% composed of fatty acid methyl
ester (FAME). In your opinion,
what are the pros and cons of
this collaboration, and how
profitable do you consider it
in the long run?
The aim of HAROPA PORT is
to bring green corridors, thus
avoiding as much carbon emission and pollution. We are very
lucky because we are linked
by the Seine River which is
our backbone and we want to
enhance more and more traffic on the river. Today, this is
possible, as we already have
more than 70 platforms in Paris:
Gennevilliers, being the biggest
one, and today, it is allowing us
to facilitate more traffic between
Le Havre and Gennevilliers on
both sides without any congestion. The trip approximately
takes 36 hours and thanks to the
active and innovative companies
in the biofuel sector, we are able
to provide to our customers,
and partner with a nearly zeroemission supply chain.
Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe visited
India from March 14-17 to
boost bilateral economic ties,
particularly cooperation on
ports, and decentralised
cooperation between local
governments. A delegation of
HAROPA PORT, a combination of the port authorities
of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris
accompanied the former PM
Philippe. How did your company plan to optimise this
visit, in favour of growing
the business ties with India?
It was a great pleasure for us
to be in India, because our
relation with India is old. Our
representation office in India
was established 15 years ago
and hence, we are well-aware
of the Indian market. Today, the
relationship between France
and India is very good in terms
of business, intellectual and
institutional relationship. Given
the ongoing trades on the global
economic scale, we believe
that the Indian market is very
promising, and even the Indian
economy is booming. Regarding
the enhancement of connectivity
between India and Europe –
to reach France, Switzerland,
south of Germany, north of
Italy, we believe that HAROPA
PORT is the best opportunity
for Indian players, and for the
Indian economy to reach out to
the European market.
As soon as we get an FTA
between India and Europe, I’m
quite sure that the volumes
will at least double, or maybe
triple, which implies that we can
relatively build on opportunities
leveraging the existing strong
basis. At present, trade between
India and France is growing
between 5-7 per cent per year,
which is good, but we know we
can do much better.
We met some of the big play-
ers in India (namely Reliance)
and discussed developing and
setting up their Indian facility.
With our merger, we are already
managing the land between Le
Havre and Paris (16,000 hectares
of land), so we have nice availability in the port ecosystem.
Well, the flows are one thing,
but if they want to develop their
activity at the edge of Europe,
just next to the second consumer
basin in Europe which is the Îlede-France region, this synapses
proves the right place to build
any facility.
France’s central government
has provided the new port
complex with a massive
financial underpinning of
€1.45 billion for the years
2021-2027 to bankroll
numerous projects for the
development and redevelopment of port facilities. In your
opinion, what are the key
takeaways of this government’s strategy that should
help other countries equally
with decarbonisation of their
river logistics?
For sure, the strategy of
HAROPA PORT is to build
highly integrated corridors
with synergies between the
three ports. Le Havre is the
first deep-sea port dedicated
to container’s traffic, (3.1 million
TEUs in 2022), Rouen the first
western European port for break
bulk and cereals, and Paris the
THE AIM OF HAROPA
PORT IS TO BRING
GREEN CORRIDORS,
THUS AVOIDING AS
MUCH CARBON EMISSION AND POLLUTION. WE ARE VERY
LUCKY BECAUSE WE
ARE LINKED BY THE
SEINE RIVER WHICH
IS OUR BACKBONE
AND WE WANT TO
ENHANCE MORE AND
MORE TRAFFIC ON
THE RIVER.
WE MET SOME OF
THE BIG PLAYERS
IN INDIA AND
DISCUSSED DEVELOPING AND SETTING
UP THEIR INDIAN
FACILITY. WITH OUR
MERGER, WE ARE
ALREADY MANAGING
THE LAND BETWEEN
LE HAVRE AND
PARIS, SO WE HAVE
NICE AVAILABILITY
IN THE PORT
ECOSYSTEM.
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