There are 500 industrial
establishments on the river Charente Catchment area. The river Charente
was the industrial vector of the region (paper, Cognac trade).
The main part of the industry is concentrated in La Rochelle city
(with its outer harbour : the Pallice) and in Rochefort (automobile
industry and aeronotics). La Rochelle is outside the catchment area,
but it drains activity to the basin.
As far as agroalimentary is concerned, Cognac and Angoulême
cities are the major poles, with Angoulême and Rochefort.
Angoulême has now to face the paper market decline.
The other businesses are in the soil exploitation : stones quarries
(Angoulême, Vilhonneur and Pranzac), kaolin mines and clay
exploitation.
The tiles production (north of the basin), glass production and
weaponry production (Ruelle) are also industrial activities of the
Charente.
Number
of establishments in the agroalimentary (2003)
See the table
of the number of the industrial establishments by activity and department
(2005)
