The Port of Dunkirk handled a total of 46.6 Mt 2015, down just 1% year-on-year. There were falls in mineral and liquid bulks, for several reasons, although grain exports increased by 32% to a record 3 Mt. Coal traffic handled at SEA-Invest's QPO (Quai a Pondereux Ouest) deepwater facility in the Western Harbour was steady at 5.1 Mt. Stephane Raison, chairman of the port's Executive Board, anticipates an increase this year, as steel maker ArcelorMittal's No. 2 blast furnace will be back in action following a five-month (August-December) closure as part of a € 100M maintenance and modernisation programme. Of course, the closure affected iron ore imports at QPO, and QPO's business is also still suffering from the effects of the severe storm that hit Northern France in May 2014, as one of the shiploaders took a long time to repair, so transhipment volumes for Bremen are lower. Overall, iron ore traffic was down by 18% to 11.1 Mt.
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