​The conference "The Spanish Mediterranean corridor, an essential part of the new Silk Road" prompts great interest among the public at the Fair

Llorca presents Spanish ports as the best option for connecting China with Europe

• The Spanish ports of the Mediterranean, especially Valencia, Barcelona and Algeciras, are the reference points in Southern Europe.
• The Mediterranean Corridor saves seven days of transit time for maritime routes to northern Europe
• The Port Land Accessibility Plan will devote €1.4 billion to improving and completing the land connections of the ports.

05-17-2018 (Spanish Ministry of Public Works and Transport). "Spain and its ports are, without a doubt, the best option for goods with Asia-Europe as the origin/destination, both because of the savings in time, seven days per rotation; and inexpensive, less than €700 per container", declared the Chairman of Puertos del Estado, José Llorca at the opening of the conference "The Spanish Mediterranean corridor, an essential part of the new Silk Road" at the Transport Logistic Fair held today in Shanghai.

Messe Muenchen Shanghai, the organizing company of the fair, has chosen Puertos del Estado to organize the conference on the main day of the Fair, giving Spain the opportunity to present proposals to promote the new Silk Road and its connection with the Mediterranean Corridor.

In his speech, the Chairman of Puertos del Estado highlighted the progress in freight traffic between the two continents, emphasizing the great impact it is having on companies in Spain and China. In this regard, he mentioned the 12.4 % growth in trade between the two countries, reaching €31.920 billion (€25.662 billion for imports and €6.258 billion for exports), thanks to the presence of leading companies in the respective countries (Inditex, Roca, Mondragón Group, Hutchison, Huawei, JSTI, Ginko Tree, Minmetals, etc.). This intensification of trade relations has been reflected in the increase in maritime transport, so that while in 1995 there were 5.1 million TEUs in the Asia-Europe corridor, by 2017 this figure had already exceeded 23 million TEUs.

Spanish ports have actively participated in this growth, particularly those located in the Mediterranean, such as Valencia, Barcelona and Algeciras, which have become a reference point in Southern Europe. Thus, Valencia, with 4.8 million TEUs, has become the leader in the entire Mediterranean basin, and Barcelona, with 3 million TEUs, is the main logistics port in the area for import/export traffic. Operating in any of these ports saves shipping companies 7 days in their transit times compared to Atlantic Arc ports. In fact, the main operators and shipping companies (Maersk, MSC, Hutchison, etc.) have achieved productivity levels that allow them to perform more than 40 movements per hour per crane.

In this context, the Chairman of Puertos del Estado continued, the instrument implemented by the European Union, the Trans-European Transport Network, is decisive for achieving the efficiency and sustainability of land mobility, and Spain, given its privileged position at the intersection of the main international shipping lanes, becomes an excellent platform, not only for maritime transits, but also for the development of land transport corridors. Therefore, the Spanish government has programmed a series of investments in the railway lines along the corridors that will total €20 billion, some of which, like the connection between Barcelona and the French border, are already operational.

According to Llorca, investments in maritime-port infrastructures have enabled Spain to reach a meritorious 4th position in Europe and 11th in the world, according to data from the World Bank, in terms of maritime connectivity and accessibility, which has had a decisive influence on obtaining total port traffic records, exceeding 545 million tons in 2017.

However, we will continue to grow and improve, especially in our logistics offer,concluded the Chairman of Puertos del Estado, and to this end we have launched a Land Accessibility Plan that will involve an investment of €1.4 billion, in improving and completing land connections to ports, particularly railways. We will continue to be the fastest and cheapest option for China and its products to reach Europe.

After the opening of the Conference by the Chairman of Puertos del Estado, representatives of the main shipping and terminal companies in the world maritime-port sector, such as Maersk, MSC, Noatum, Hutchison and TTI Algeciras, who have chosen Spanish ports to carry out their operations, and shared their experience in the round tables "The offer of shipping lanes" and "The high productivity of the port terminals of the Corridor".

Finally, the representatives of the ports of Barcelona and Tarragona focused their interventions on "Railway connectivity with Europe. Toward the ship-train synchromodality," while the ports of Valencia and Bilbao have done so on "The Mediterranean-Atlantic Axis Connection." The Port Authority of the Bay of Gibraltar and Customs Management of the Tax Agency have presented "The corridor in the economy 4.0: Digital ports and controls on digital borders."