2018 - favourable for Spanish ports
Spanish ports generally performed well in 2018, although full year figures have not been published as yet. According to the data published by Puertos de Estado, a total of 502.5 million t were moved in the first eleven months of the year, 2.8% more than in 11M/2017.
In the period under review, the goods volume in international transit rose by 7.3% to 135.2 million t. Some 44.4% of that throughput flowed through three ports: Algeciras moved 94.2 million t (+6.5%), Valencia noted 68.8 million t (+1.6%) and Barcelona handled 60.5 million t (+9.5%).
The general cargo sector registered the best performance as it grew by 5.3% to 244.6 million t. 85% of goods in that sector passed through six ports: Barcelona registered the highest increase (+12.6%), followed by Bilbao (+8.3%), the Balearic Islands (+6.3%) and Algeciras (+6%).
Volumes in Valencia rose by a mere 3.3%, while Las Palmas saw a 1.5% decrease. 71.6% of the general cargo was transported in containers, the tonnage equated to 175 million t, 4.9% more than in 11M/2017. (kd)