Valenciaport handles 40% of Spain’s imports and exports by sea
The volume of container traffic loaded for import/export at Valenciaport is equivalent to that of the Port of Barcelona and Algeciras, according to the company's release.
Valenciaport handled a total of 1,434,840 import and export containers during the first seven months of the year. This volume of loading and unloading, calculated in TEUs, or units equivalent to 6.1 metre containers, is 19.45% higher than that handled during the same period of the previous year, and represents 40% of the total number of import/export containers that entered or left the Spanish port system up to July. Between January and July, 3.58 million TEUs entered and left through all the ports of Spain and 1.43 million TEUs (40%) through the Port of Valencia.
Valenciaport was followed in order of importance in managing Spanish international trade services by the ports of Barcelona (1.04 million import/export containers, representing 29.05%), Algeciras (0.390 million, 10.89%) and Bilbao (0.29 million and 8.01%).
As many loaded containers entered and left Valenciaport terminals as Barcelona and Algeciras terminals combined (1.43 million in Valencia compared to 1.04 million and 0.39 million in Barcelona and Algeciras, respectively); and between the three port enclaves they handled 70% of what Spanish companies import or export by sea (Valenciaport 40%, Barcelona 29% and Algeciras 11%).
The figures, provided by Puertos del Estado, show an upward trend in the international positioning of Valencia as a port connected to the world and to the global economy, capable of opening up new markets and providing new customers for Spanish companies, as indicated by the United Nations connectivity indexes.
Notwithstanding Valenciaport’s leadership in the world of containers and import/export, the Port of Barcelona maintains its first position in the Spanish ranking in passenger and cruise traffic; and the Port of Algeciras in general cargo volumes by tonnage; a specialisation which is also maintained by the other facilities of the Spanish system, each one of them in their respective fields.
According to the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI) report on global port connectivity prepared by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for the 2nd quarter of 2020, Valenciaport consolidates its position as a leader in maritime connectivity, ranking first in Spain (a position it already held in previous editions, improving its overall score with respect to the previous index), fourth in Europe and 21st in the world.
The progress of the Port of Valencia in this ranking reaffirms the commitment of Valenciaport, as a facilitator of commercial exchange, in the design of a port policy that reinforces its connectivity by adapting its infrastructures and services to the needs of the market, with the aim of attracting the greatest number of shipping companies and maritime lines.
