Container throughput at the French port of Marseilles Fos improved in March after a double-digit fall off in the first two months of the year.

The Mediterranean port''s container throughput fell 21% year-on-year in the first quarter to 206,800teu, but in March volumes were down 13% to 63,600.

The port said the improvement in volume drop off was down to three new services calling at the port.

The port''s total cargo throughput in the first-quarter fell 14% to 20.85m tonnes.