By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOT Logistics is key to the French economy with the Nord Pas de Calais region of northern France playing an important role. The region has strategic geographic advantages. It offers quick access to five European capitals (Paris, Brussels, London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt) and 78 million people within a 180 mile radius. Nord Pas de Calais is also the third largest economic region in France and is anchored by Lille, France’s fourth largest city. Given its geographic location, logistics firms in Nord Pas de Calais can reach by truck Antwerp is under two hours by road; Rotterdam, under three hours, and Le Havre , under four hours. In addition, its ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Dunkerque (France’s second largest seaport next to Le Havre), and Calais play an important role. For one, the Eurostar enters the Channel Tunnel at Calais. The Port of Dunkerque handles a volume of 2.4 metric tonnes per year. Its advantage is direct, fast access to the western European motorway networks the A25 and A16. Traffic, as throughout northern Europe, can be extremely congested and move at a crawl, however. Rail traffic generated by Dunkerque averages around 14 metric tonnes a year, making it France’s premier rail freight hub. More inland, Valenciennes, a major rail hub, offers a major multimodal node in Nord Pas de Calais. In an effort to offer shippers cost savings and “green” alternatives, the region’s waterways are increasingly being developed and utilized. In fact, the Scheldt River, which flows from France into Belgium and the Netherlands, is the most used waterway in Nord Pas de Calais. According to local officials, the Scheldt sees 80 percent of Nord Pas de Calais waterway container flows. These total, on average, 45,000 TEUs per year. The wide-gauge 116-mile Dunkirk-Valenciennes Canal, which spans from Dunkerque to Mortagne du Nord via Valenciennes, allows inland waterway vessels of 3,000 tonnes to sail to the main inland ports of the Nord Pas de Calais region. The inland waterway network of Belgium and the Rhine is also accessible to convoys of 1,350 tonnes. In addition, the opening of the Seine-North Europe Canal in 2016 will extend the port’s inland waterway hinterland to Picardy and the Paris area. Four logistics platforms are planned along the route at Marquion, Péronne, Nesle and Noyon. Competition to the North Overshadowing the region, however, are enormous investments taking place to the north in Belgium and the Netherlands. At the Port of Antwerp, for example, ground has just been broken to build the largest lock in the world. Although the port already has this distinction with the Berendrecht lock, its new Deurganckdock lock is in response to the trend towards ever-larger ships. Meanwhile, the Port of Rotterdam continues its reclamation of almost 4.5 million acres of new industrial land right off the coast. Dubbed “Maasvlakte 2”, the project will create what port officials deem will be necessary space for future port activities. To meet the requirements of existing clients, the Port of Rotterdam Authority also keeps investing in the current port and industrial complex. Distribution parks have also sprung up throughout the Dutch and Flemish port areas “By comparison, our national ports of Boulogne, Dunkerque and Calais have a small hinterland,” said Philippe Kemel, chairman of Delta 3, during the recent Just in Log logistics trade show. There Kemel, and other local officials, warned that the Belgium and Dutch ports are taking opportunities away from the French region, especially if action isn’t taken to make the region more competitive. Delta 3, located outside of Douai, offers over 741 acres and nearly 3.5 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space. The logistics hub has good road access along with rail links to Italy, Spain and Germany and is connected with the region’s ports by inland waterways. In fact, an 820-foot inland water quay on the Haute Deûle Canal and a 820-foot waiting quay make it possible to accommodate b