A logistics platform is a good supply chain and inventory management tool. Having the possibility to put your goods in a logistics hub is a very good thing and it can be even better depending on the location. We are going to explain the reasons for choosing to implement its logistics platform(s) in the south of France.
The logistics in the south of France has 4 major advantages which are:
The proximity with strategic points of the trnasoprt and logistics
The biggest Mediterranean ports
90% of the global flows of goods come from maritime transport. The big ports and in particular those located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea are therefore strategic points in the logistics chain and international transport.
Having a logistics platform located as close as possible to a port terminal is a real advantage. XP LOG in Seine-Maritime can confirm this. Thanks to its location in the heart of the port area of Le Havre, the leading port in France (in terms of number of containers).
Being close to a port means being as close as possible to consumers and also reducing the cost and time of transporting goods by road to the final customers.
The Mediterranean Sea is bordered by ports. There are Algeciras, Valencia and Barcelona in Spain, Marseille in France, Izmir and Ambardi in Turkey, Alexandria in Egypt, Algiers in Algeria, Tunis in Tunisia, Tanger-Med in Morocco, Tripoli and Beirut in Libya, Piraeus in Greece , to only say a few.
We can also speak about the port of Bordeaux, the largest port on the French Atlantic coast.
The proximity with the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Suez Isthmus. It allows ships to avoid making a bigger tour of 5,000 to 6,000 kilometers around Africa via the Cape.
The trip between London and a port in the Persian Gulf via the Suez Canal represents in average 14 days of navigation. The journey with the same point of departure and the same point of arrival through the Cape is 10 days longer.
A year at the Suez Canal means 19,000 ship journey, or about 49 per day. This represents 1.1 billion tons of goods and between 10 and 12% of global maritime traffic. This proximity to the Suez Canal is a direct link to the Asian continent, where a very large part of the transport of goods to the rest of the world and in particular to Europe comes from.
To avoid traffic at the door of the European ports
Traffic occurs when demand exceeds the capacity of a port's infrastructure and resources. A port is the first step for goods after their departure, following their production. It is therefore in this area, small and common to all landings, that most activities are concentrated.
The ports of the northern European range have to deal with a constant and significant flow. For this, they must be able to welcome any kind of cargo and any kind of vessel, from the oldest to the most recent, including the new giants of the seas, full of new technologies. To deal with this, ports must be constantly evolving to adapt as quickly as possible to new developments in the world of maritime transport.
In this case, the traffic may be due to a structural problem. This is the case when the problem comes from the infrastructure or resources of the port. But congestion can also occur as a result of occasional problems that cannot be anticipated, such as breakdowns in the equipment used to unload goods from ships.
As an example, the commercial ports of the English Channel and the North Sea face these two types of traffic more than ports located on the Mediterranean Sea. This is why it may be advantageous to bring goods into Europe through the ports in the South, in the Mediterranean Sea, which are less congested than their counterparts in the North.
The northern ports then enter into direct competition with the port of Marseille, for example, which offers services that can be performed quicker than if the unloading of goods took place in the North.
The ports of Le Havre and Dunkirk, to name only the French ports in the northern European range, still remain very competitive, but within Marseille, we can see a saving of time for a delivery of goods in the south of the France or throughout southern Europe.
Implement its logistics in the South: Being at the heart of a transport network
River transport
The South of France is fortunate to be able to benefit from an efficient kind of transport: river transport on the Rhône-Saône axis.
This axis is a strategic point which serves France, from Marseille to the banks of the Saône via Lyon.
This kind of transport has several advantages. For example, a boat on the river is the equivalent to 220 trucks on the road. Another example: river transport has the advantage of polluting much less than road and motorway transport.
This kind of transport in the South of France replaces the A6, A7 and A9 motorways, which are very busy axes.
In all, there are 22 ports all along the Rhône but also on the banks of the Saône.
Rail transport
France is a country rather well served in terms of railways. Large railways lead to all metropolitan poles. Smaller towns are also served, such as, to name just one, Brive-La-Gaillarde.
Road transport
Highways
The A6 motorway is the so-called "sun" motorway. It crosses France from north to south, starting from the south-east of Paris to reach Lyon.
The A7 motorway is the motorway that connects the city of Lyon to Marseille.
The A8 motorway connects Aix-en-Provence to the Côte-d'Azur, going to the border with Italy.
The A9 motorway connects the city of Orange to the city of Narbonne.
The A20 motorway connects the capital to the city of Bordeaux.
The A20 motorway goes from Vierzon to Montauban.
The A43 connects Lyon to Modane and takes you to Italy.
The A61 motorway connects Toulouse to Narbonne.
The A65 motorway connects the city of Langon (near Bordeaux) to Pau.
The A75 motorway connects the cities of Clermont-Ferrand and Béziers.
The A89 motorway crosses the country from west to east and connects Bordeaux to Lyon.
The roads
France is also very well equipped regarding departmental and national roads, which allow transport to reach its point of arrival easily and quickly.
The proximity with key metropolitan poles in France and in the border countries.
The large metropolitan centers are very strategic points in logistics. Indeed, this is where a large number of private customers are concentrated, up to which goods have to be transported.
This is also where there is a concentration of businesses, factories, restaurants, shops, etc. To which goods must also be supplied to participate in their development. These metropolitan poles are quite numerous in the south of France and are also close to the borders, like Barcelona barely 160 km from the French border in Perthus. In France these big cities are, to name a few: Aix-en-Provence, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice, Saint-Etienne, Toulon, Toulouse… all these cities are easy access, served by a large number of communication roads, as we discussed earlier in this article.
These are also very close to logistics platforms, necessary for managing the flow of goods in these large living areas.