Maize, second highest export, remains dependant on demand from the Iberian Peninsula. This demand varies according to the quality of the Spanish harvest, the increase of exports to Spain is by road and is therefore to the detriment of port traffic. Also the Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis – BSE - crisis has resulted in a direct increase of demand for maize as animal feed, therefore reducing the amount available for export.

The increase in imports is the result of the strong demand from industries in the port hinterland, which are no longer supplied by the Lacq refineries since they have ceased operations. As for exports, these mainly comprise crude oil and, to a lesser extent, naphtha.

The steadiness of exports is the result of sustained activity in the chemical industry in the Lacq basin and more particularly that of the company Acetex de Pardies.

The closure of Socadour at the end of the year 2000 and more efficient use of fertilisers in the agricultural industry explains the slight drop in traffic.

Agglomerated wood, produced in the south of the Landes area, represents the greater part of exports, which have sharply increased ( up by 51%). Import levels have been maintained but from now on, exotic undressed timber will be increasing as much as other products.

The very slight decrease in metal imports is largely compensated by the sharp increase of exports of steel billets that have a natural outlet in the Spanish sites belonging to the Aceralia group, which now forms part of Aciérie de l’Atlantique (ADA).