Over 11.5 million tons were handled in Spain's ports in 2018
The traffic of fruit and vegetable products in Spanish ports increases by 12.5%
- More than 5.2 million tons of fruits, vegetables and legumes in transit went through Spain's ports in 2018.
- 15 Port Authorities, convened at the "Ports of Spain" stand, are offering at Fruit Attraction the best alternatives for the import/export of fruits and vegetables.
10-21-2019 (Ministry of Development). State-owned ports registered traffic of more than 563 million tons in 2018, of which 11.5 million were fruits, vegetables and legumes, representing a 12.5% increase over last year. Of this amount, more than 5.2 million tons, 45.5%, represent cargo in transit, a figure that had led Spain to become one of the main countries supplying this type of product to the rest of Europe, whether domestic exported produce or products from other countries, particularly Latin America.
Furthermore, during the first seven months of 2019, traffic of fruits, vegetables and legumes reached 7.2 million tons, representing a 6.5% increase over the same period the previous year.
These numbers eventually confirm that Spain, due to its strategic geographical location, in addition to being Europe's leading exporter country, has become the "door" to incoming imports of fruits arriving from third countries. In this regard, a wide network of "reefer" connections in port terminals, as well as cold store companies both in the ports and in associated logistics areas, have decisively contributed to this leadership. The leading association in the cold store operations sector, Aldefe, has announced that its associates handled 3.5 million tons, and the occupation rate of the over 3 million m3 covered by its associates exceeded 87%. In 2018, this sector invoiced more than 138 M€ and employed more than 1,500 people in 2018.
Increased port traffic in this type of cargo has a lot to do with the enhancement of coastal trade lines with European countries, representing approximately 93% of all Spanish exports, and with African countries on the Mediterranean coast which, in turn, is encouraging an increase in intermodality.
Along these lines, the latest report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations pointed out that Spain is Europe's leading exporter of fruits and vegetables. Thus, based on the latest data reported by the Spanish Federation of Exporter Producers of fruits and vegetables (FEPEX), Spain's export of fresh fruits and vegetables totaled 12,704 million Euros in 2017, representing a 1% increase over the previous year, of which 93% was en route to a European Union country.
- PORTS OF SPAIN: 15 PORT AUTHORITIES SEARCHING FOR NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Spanish ports are displayed at the Fruit Attraction Fair in Madrid with a huge range of products and services available to the fruits, legumes and fresh vegetables market. The "Ports of Spain" stand, under the motto "CONNECTING THE WORLD TO FRESH FOOD", will represent 15 Port Authorities (Bahía de Algeciras, Bahía de Cádiz, Bilbao, Cartagena, Castellón, Ferrol-San Cibrao, Huelva, Las Palmas, Málaga, Marín y Ría de Pontevedra, Motril, Seville, Tarragona, Valencia and Vigo), in addition to the overall port system, with a total ground surface area of 85 million m2 and deposit areas, cold store facilities able to hold approximately 2 million m3, more than 300,000 linear meters for berthing, links to any port in the word, border inspection points (PIF), phytosanitary services, and all types of logistics solutions.
Fruit Logistica represents an excellent opportunity to establish contact with leading suppliers on this market and to maintain our positioning as a super power in the import/export of fruits, legumes and vegetables worldwide.
