South American and Iberian port figures
Mercosur, the South American common market whose full members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay (Venezuela is suspended), signed a free-trade agreement with the European Union in 2019 – but it is still awaiting ratification. At least most of the continent’s ports have been developing positively of late.
In a good mood hither and thither
In South America Santos, Brazil’s and all of South America’s largest port, leads the list of the continent’s gateways, with approximately 4.1 million teu handled (3.8).* It is followed by Manzanillo (Mexico) with almost 3.1 million teu (2.8) and Cartagena (Colombia) with 2.86 million teu (2.68).
In Iberia Valencia (Spain) led with 5.1 million teu (4.8); with compatriots Algeciras’ 4.7 million teu (4.3) and Barcelona’s 3.4 million teu (2.9) next.
In North America, the port of Long Beach / Los Angeles’ 17.4 million teu (16.8) made it No. 1. Its European counterpart is Rotterdam, with 14.5 million teu (13.7). Quite a difference compared with South American / Iberian ports!
New seaways that are being opened up (see page 8 opposite for example) as well as improved operating conditions could help both of these regions to catch up a little, even though some ports’ latest figures for 2019 also reflect the ongoing economic downturn.
*The figures are based on information from Statista and Wikipedia for 2018. The figures in brackets are for 2017.
