France's largest container port, Le Havre, has reported strong growth in traffic this year as shipping lines seek to avoid congestion at rival European hubs, its operator said.
Congestion has become a major issue for shipping giants like Denmark's Maersk, with port infrastructure struggling to cope with growing trade volumes, ever-larger vessels and geopolitical disruption to routes.
Le Havre, on France's north coast, recorded an 8.6 per cent year-on-year jump in the number of containers handled in the first half of 2026, operator Haropa Port said.
Container activity remained strong during July and August, Haropa Port CEO Benoit Rochet told Reuters.
"There is a lot of talk about port congestion. Our port has capacity and I think shipping companies realised and made use of it," he said.
The strong activity suggested consumer demand for some goods, including imports from China, remained resilient, while the impact of tariffs on trade flows continued to fluctuate, Rochet added.
As well as Le Havre, Haropa runs river ports on the Seine at Rouen - France's biggest grain export hub - and Paris.
The brisk container activity supported a 5.7 per cent rise in Haropa's total maritime volumes in the first half.
Bulk liquid volumes rose two per cent, supported by crude oil imports as refiners replaced Persian Gulf supplies disrupted by the Iran war with other sources.
As previously reported, cereal exports from Rouen jumped following a rebound in the French harvest in 2025.
However, for July-August, Rouen has seen a slow start to the new export season, Rochet said, adding war disruption to Black Sea trade made the outlook uncertain.
Haropa was spared drought-related drops in water levels that hit traffic on Europe's Rhine and Danube rivers, with the Seine protected by a system of locks and reservoirs, he added.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz Editing by Ros Russell)