Port traffic exceeded 380 million tonnes over the first 8 months of the year

• Liquid and solid bulk and conventional general cargo continue at a growth rate of around +10% compared to 2021
• Passenger traffic is advancing along the path to recovery, with 21.9 million people (+112.9%) passing through the ports of Spain

26-09-2022 (Spanish Port Authority). The 46 ports of general interest in Spain handled 380,154,713 tonnes during the first eight months of the year, which represents an increase of +5.5% compared with the same period in 2021. Accordingly, 20 of the 28 Port Authorities experienced increases, with passenger traffic increasing by +112.9%, exceeding a total of 21.9 million people.

The three major groups, divided by packaging type (liquid bulk, solid bulk and general cargo) experienced increases. In the case of bulk cargo this amounted to around +10%, compensating for the fall in containerised general cargo (-2.7%), with a cumulative total of 129.4 million tonnes. Particularly notable over this period was the increase in solid cargo (61.6 million tonnes, +10.6%), boosted by transit of coal and petroleum coke transit (11.5 million tonnes, +57.2%), and grain and flour (9 million tonnes, +31.7%). Liquid bulk transit reached 122.8 million tonnes (+9.6%), mainly impacted by the transit of natural gas (+56.3%), which exceeded 14.9 million tonnes, and crude oil (+15.6%), which reached 43.7 million tonnes.

General cargo exceeded 185.9 million tonnes (+0.7%), mainly driven by conventional general cargo, at more than 4.9 million tonnes (+9.6%), with the most notable components being ro-ro equipment (+21.7%), wood and cork (+17.4%), and other metal ore and waste (+15%).

Traffic of ro-ro cargo (roll on-roll off) transported on ships, be it vehicles, trucks or trailers loaded with containers, grew by +11.5%, with a total of more than 47.8 million tonnes.

Container transit, measured in TEUs (20-foot containers), was close to 11.8 million, of which 6.1 million were transit, 4.3 million import/export, and 1.4 million domestic inbound/outbound.

Passenger traffic continues to achieve the highest increases, with a total of 21.9 million people (+112.9%), of which 4.4 million (+676.3%) were cruise passengers.

Finally, merchant ship traffic continues to grow at a rate of +14.7% compared to the same period in the previous year, with 103,944 units moved through Spanish ports.

For more information: https://www.puertos.es/es-es/estadisticas/Paginas/estadistica_mensual.aspx