​Traffic in Spanish ports falls by 13.2% in the month of July

• This confirms an ongoing recovery from the impact of Covid-19, registering a 1.6 point improvement with respect to the month of June.
• Francisco Toledo: "Our forecasts have been met, completed a few months back, on how port traffic would evolve and its progressive escalation towards pre-pandemic figures".

09-4-2020 (Ministry of Transportation, Mobility and Urban Agenda). The 46 State-owned general interest ports moved 42.4 million tons during the month of July, representing a 13.2% fall with respect to the same month last year. Aggregate figures during these first seven months of the year have registered a total of 295.7 million tons and a 11.3% decrease over the same period the previous year.


However, these figures indicate that the recovery process has continued for one more month, against the sharp fall in port traffic registered last May, when it fell by up to 25% due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.


The president of Puertos del Estado, Francisco Toledo, has pointed out that "our forecasts have been met, completed a few months back, on how port traffic would evolve and its progressive escalation towards pre-pandemic figures".


Thus, July has confirmed an ongoing recovery from the Covid-19 impact on port traffic, registering a 1.6 point improvement with respect to the one recorded in June, registering a 14.8% fall. 

By presentation format, solid bulk continued to fall in the month of July, up to -12.7%, with 5.4 million tons moved, whereas aggregate figures for the first seven months have registered 42.3 million tons and a 19.7% fall. The traffic registering the greatest fall until July, in this heading, referred to coal and petroleum coke, from 12.4 million tons in July 2019 to 7.5 million at present, representing a 39.8% fall. Other traffic, such as iron ore, decreased by 46.3%; cereal and cereal-based flour, 11.9%; and cement and clinker, 15.4%. However, other traffic has increased, such as fertilizers (9.7%), other minerals and metal waste (6.9%) or soya beans (2.9%).

In July, liquid bulk registered a 1.4% increase with 14.4 million tons. However, the aggregate for the year has reflected a 7.9% fall , with 100.7 million tons. This decrease in liquid bulk was buffered mainly due to natural gas traffic, which registered a 12.2% change until July with respect to the same period last year.

In July, general cargo moved 21.8 million tons, i.e. a 10.2% fall. The aggregate for the year was 146.8 million tons, with a 10.3% decrease, which mostly impacted cars (-26.6%), construction material (-12.9%) and wood and cork (-14.6%). Instead, other types of traffic registered an increase, such as fertilizers and oil, sometimes exceeding 14%.

Container traffic decreased by 10.9% in July, reaching 1.4 million TEUs. During the first seven months, more than 9.3 million TEUs were registered as well as a 10.1% fall.

Finally, the greatest fall was registered in passenger traffic. Since January, 7.752.497 persons have been registered, i.e. a 61.2% fall over the nearly 20,000 passengers during this same period of time last year.

For more information, please visit http://www.puertos.es/es-es/estadisticas/Paginas/estadistica_mensual.aspx