Spanish Ports stay on deck
Spanish ports moved 397.6 million t of goods from January to October 2023, 4.0% less than in the same period of 2022 and just 0.3% above the figure for 2021.
Both containerised goods, which total 132.9 t (-8.2%), and bulk liquids, with 131.4 t (-3.7%), recorded notable decreases. The drop in the latter is mainly due to the decline in natural gas transported by sea, which amounted to 16.9 t (-8.4%), and crude oil (51.2 Mt, -4.8%). Oil products remained at levels almost the same as in 2022 (58.0 t) and biofuels (5.5 t) fell by 10.2%.
At 60.5 t, ro-ro traffic grew by 1.3% over the period from January till October 2023. The only cargo categories to improve slightly compared to last year are conventional general cargo, with 63.7 t (+0.8%) and solid bulks, with 69.5 t (+0.3%).
Both segments are benefiting from the increase recorded by agro-livestock and food products, which has been offset by the lower level of movement of goods associated with the iron and steel sector (29.8 t and -10.9%) and construction (23.1 t and -5.2%).
In foreign trade, imports (163.5 t) fell by 3.5%, with general cargo (31.6 t) being the only item to grow (+1.5%). Imported bulk solids (45.1 t) fell by 7.4%, and liquids (86.7 t) by 3.2%. Exports totalled 71.5 t, down 4.8%.
Exported liquid bulks (19.3 t) rose by 7.5%, but solid bulks (17.7 t) fell by 2.7% and general cargo (34.4 t) by 11.5%. All this represents a 3.9% downturn in the Spanish maritime foreign trade (sum of imports plus exports). (cd)