​With average growth up 7% on 2016, movement of all types of goods increased

Spanish ports continue to break records: 545 million tons moved in 2017

• Imports (202.3 million tons) grew by 8.1% and exports (96.7 million tons) by 7.4%.
• The large ports in northern Europe grew half as much as the Spanish port system.
• Transport of goods destined for other countries represents 25% of port traffic.
• 2018 is maintaining the strong increase seen at the close of the previous year.
  
   

06-03-2018 (Ministry of Public Works). The 46 ports of general interest coordinated by Puertos del Estado recorded a new historic maximum by moving 544,957,382 tons in 2017, which amounts to an increase of 6.96% on the previous year. This piece of data confirms the progressive recovery of the Spanish economy, as close to 85% of imports and 60% of Spanish exports are moved by sea. In this vein, of the total amount of goods moved, 202.3 million tons (38%) corresponded to imports while 96.7 million tons (18.2%) were exports.

The growth of Spanish ports is in contrast with the data gathered for northern Europe's large ports as it is almost double what is recorded for them. Rotterdam, Europe's main port, grew by 1.3%, Antwerp, the second most important port, grew 4.4%, and even Hamburg, the third most important port in terms of volume of goods unloaded, saw a decrease of 1.2%, while Zeebrugge oversaw a decrease of 1.8%. This data demonstrates the progression of ports in southern Europe, mainly Spanish ports, which continue to earn a market share in the flow of goods from other continents to/from the European Union.

Practically all types of goods moved at ports experienced significant increases. General goods, which is the largest category, representing 47.5% of the total moved with 252.5 million tons, grew by 7%. Liquid bulk cargo, which is the second largest goods group (33.5% of the total), grew by 6.6% to exceed 178.5 million tons. Finally, solid bulk cargo (19% of the total) was the type that grew the most, increasing 9.8% to exceed 101 million tons.

Spanish ports continue to be a good option in the transport of goods destined for third countries, as shown by the almost 137 million tons moved, and with an increase of 12% they already represent 25% of the total, meaning 1 in every 4 tons that passes through a Spanish port is in transit. Likewise, ro-ro traffic (industrial vehicles loaded with goods), which is used to avoid long road journeys, has increased 6.8%, amounting to more than 57 million tons. This type of traffic involves a wide range of logistics activities that positively impact intermodality and generate employment associated with port traffic.

In this same vein, containers (which is the most widespread form of transporting general goods by sea) reached 15.9 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), with an increase of 5%. Of these figures, 53.3% (or 8.49 million TEUs) were in transit.

Regarding the number of ships, the trend towards gigantism, which could be noted in the previous decade, has stabilised and maintains similar figures. Although the number of ships that passed through Spanish ports (156,046) increased by 3%, their units of gross tonnage only grew 1.6%. However, in light of the data facilitated by shipping companies, a large number of ships with capacity for 20,000 containers are currently in construction, and this will have a significant impact on port operations in the coming years.

• JANUARY 2018 BEGINS WITH A BANG AT PORTS

According to the provisional data for January this year, the upward trend in goods traffic seen at the close of 2017 has been maintained in the first month of 2018. In this regard, total goods traffic exceeded 46.2 million tons, which is 10% more than the previous year. This growth is mainly owed to the boom in bulk cargo, both solid (up 16.7%) and liquid (up 11.7%), although general goods has not performed too badly either (up 6.8%).

If this rate of growth is maintained, the forecasts made by Port Authorities will likely be exceeded. These estimates suggested the current year could close with total traffic close to 550 million tons.