Valenciaport exceeds 5.4 million containers and 80 million tonnes handled in 2020
Valenciaport handled a total of 5,428,307 containers and 80,882,224 tonnes of goods in 2020, which in practice means equalling the traffic of the previous year – an all time record – and overcoming with flying colours the slump caused by the pandemic during the first half of the year. Thus, the gap between 2020 and 2019 was only 0.23% in tonnes and 0.21% in containers (11,520 TEUs; which is to say, less than one ship), the company said in its release.
These are indicators that show the significant recovery that has taken place in the second half of the year thanks to the strength of the Valencian and Spanish export sector, which has focused the bulk of its import-export operations in the Port of Valencia. The activity carried out by the companies and professionals of the Valencian port and logistics community explains the success achieved in closing the year with container and goods traffic figures like those of the previous year.
The balance of 2020 shows an uneven performance clearly marked by the health crisis and its repercussions on the world economy which has affected the production of goods and the exchange of merchandise. From March onwards, with the entry of the state of alarm and confinement, Valenciaport’s indicators began to show negative figures, especially between May and July. The turning point came in August, when the data for both freight and container traffic began to grow, a trend that continued until the last month of the year (in these five months, 2,459,640 TEUs have been handled, an average of 492,000 containers per month). This activity is the result of the productive capacity of the business and commercial fabric of Valenciaport’s area of influence, which led to more than half a million TEUs/month in several months of the second half of 2020. Magnitudes which place the Valencian port in the perspective of handling 6 million containers/year soon. In terms of traffic, the dynamism of containers full of cargo (export) since August should be highlighted, with an average annual growth since this month of more than 11%, a figure which confirms the reactivation of the activity of the Spanish industry.
About the year as a whole (January-December), the total number of full containers has grown by 2.74% compared to 2019 of these, export containers have fallen by -1.05%, unloading (import) by -7.3% and TEUs (standard 20-foot container) transit containers have grown by 7.51%. Empty containers decreased by -9.38% in 2020.
Regarding the month of December, the figures for this month are once again much higher than in previous years. Specifically, the cranes operated 485,404 containers, which represents 17.23% more than in December 2019. Full TEUs grew by 21.27%, and specifically, those destined for loading increased by 10.12%, unloading by 12.23% and transit by 28.68%. For empty containers, the difference compared to December of the previous year was +2.42%.
A very similar figure is obtained in the movement of goods which reached 7,226,777 tonnes in the last month of the year, 1,081,457 tonnes more than in December of the previous year, which means a growth of 17.6%, especially in goods arriving at Valenciaport via containers which increased by 21.77%.
The Valenciaport figures reflect the activity of the business fabric in the area of influence of the Port of Valencia and its capacity to generate goods and services, to promote the sale of products abroad and to activate trade and industry, an activity which has been very dynamic in the second half of the year. In this sense, the Port Authority of Valencia highlights the work carried out by the port community and the logistics sector during this year marked by the Covid-19 crisis, which has made it necessary to establish exceptional protocols for port activity in record time to continue supplying goods and responding to the export/import activity of the area of influence of Valenciaport.
Containerised general cargo closed the year with 63.26 million tonnes, 2.49% more than in 2019. In this section, the Agri-Food industry stands out with a growth of 6.87% and Construction materials with an increase of 5.51%. By type of goods, the traffics of subsectors such as processed construction materials stand out with 5.78 million tonnes (+6.16%); other goods with 2.27 million tonnes (-5.38%); chemical products with 2.04 million tonnes mobilised (-3.48%); and within the agri-food industry, beverages and derivatives with 1.22 million tonnes (+0.33%) and other food products with 1.12 million tonnes (+25.44%).
Non-containerised general cargo moved a total of 12.74 million tonnes in 2020, 14.35% less than in 2019. By sectors, Vehicles and transport elements with 5.13 million tonnes fell by 14.83%; the Agri-food industry with 2.19 million tonnes maintained similar figures to 2019 (-0.63%); and the Iron and Steel sector with 2.07 million tonnes fell by 15.95%.
The total traffic during 2020 amounted to 2.67 million tonnes, 13.43% less than the previous year; while solid bulks mobilised 1.85 million tonnes, representing a decrease of 15.77%.
Of the total of 80.88 million tonnes handled in 2020, approximately 29% corresponded to export operations, 22% to imports and 49% to transit. These percentages highlight the value of Valenciaport as a mixed port combining export/import operations with transhipments.
The main countries which have mobilised the greatest volume of goods in 2020 were: Spain with 9.21 million tonnes (-9.07%), the United States with 7.72 million tonnes (-3.51%), China with 6.18 million tonnes (-2.92%), Italy with 6.16 million tonnes (-1.28%) and Turkey with 5.58 million tonnes (-5.23%). The most dynamic countries in 2020 were Canada (+60.54%), Nigeria (+36.79%), Saudi Arabia (+33.16%) and India (+28.7%).
About the movement of full containers, the United States tops the ranking with 536,182 TEUs (+1.59%), followed by China with 535,538 (-1.91%), Turkey with 328,322 (-6.67%), Algeria with 242,132 (+8.96%) and India with 221,263 (+28.81%).
Regarding “ro-ro” traffic (goods that go on and off the ship with their own wheels and without the need for cranes; as is the case of trucks, trailers and vehicles) in the accumulated 2020, Valenciaport has managed 11,223,554 tonnes, -10.79% less than in 2019. It has also handled 533,137 cars, a decrease of 26.24% compared to the previous year.
