France's third-largest port at Dunkirk (GPMD) presented its objectives for 2030, and confirmed that several Belgian companies are investing in its site, mainly in the agri-food and logistics sectors.
Belgian Chip giant Clarebout is one of the most established companies in the northern port, with two production lines installed on the site, producing 1,400 tonnes of frozen Chips a day.
"One of these lines has been in service since November 2023, the second since 2024. Clarebout is thus bringing added value back to the port, creating jobs and developing a major port activity," said Daniel Deschodt, Managing Director and Commercial Director of the GPMD.
Despite opposition to the facility from some local residents and politicians five years ago, Clarebout has since continued to invest and built a stacker crane (an automated temperature-controlled warehouse) that will be in service by June 2025. Other stacker cranes will soon be built to facilitate the development of an export hub for Clarebout products from Dunkirk.
In addition to the leader in frozen Chips, the GPMD has confirmed the presence of other Belgian companies in its port area. Since November, transport and logistics company Ziegler has been building a 19,400 square metre multimodal logistics centre on the site, which will be operational in 2026.
On the same site, logistics group Weerts is planning to build a new 82,000 square metre building for its activities in the first half of the year.
These two companies will soon be joined by logistics property specialists WDP and Heylen Warehouses, which plan to set up operations there by 2030, according to the GPMD. ‘This proximity is important for the port of Dunkirk and confirms its increasingly important role’, added Mr Deschodt. (INT, ECO, GRI, DHO, en)
