135.9 million tonnes were moved through February

Freight traffic through ports of general interest grew by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2024

• The first three months of the year confirm the strong increase in TEUs (+10.8%), especially in transit (+17.5%).
• Passenger movement increased by 6,9%, compared to the first two months of 2023, with 6.5 million.

23-04-2024 (State Ports Public Body). Between January and September of this year, ports of general interest moved 408,527,607 tons, which is 4% less than in the same period of the previous year.

The traffic data for the first quarter of the year confirm the increase in goods in Spanish ports due to traffic diverted as a result of the Red Sea crisis that was already glimpsed in January and February in data such as TEUs moved, but in March there has been a certain slowdown compared to the previous two months.

All traffic registered increases up to March, with the exception of solid bulk, which fell by 13.6% to 20.3 million tonnes, the effect of the collapse of coal (-55.9%) and steel products (-42.3%).

General  cargo increased in the first three months of the year by 6.9% compared to 2023, to 67 million tonnes, with a rise above all in containers, +10.1%, compared to the moderate +0.3% of conventional cargo.

TEUs  increased by 10.8% compared to the same period of the previous year, with 4.28 million tonnes, highlighting the strong increase in containers in transit (+17.5%), as we said especially in ports such as Barcelona (+47.7%), Las Palmas (+28.5%), Valencia (+18.2%) and Algeciras (+6.5%).

Liquid  bulk registered an increase of 1.5%, to exceed 45 million tonnes, especially due to the good performance of chemical products (+94.9%).

Ro-ro traffic grew by 0,2% to 17.7 million tonnes.

The number of merchant ships through Spanish ports increased by 4.5% in 2023 , totalling 164,215 units, with gross tonnage growing by 6%.

Passenger traffic through Spanish ports continues to rise, 6.9%, with 6.52 million movements in the first three months of the year compared to the same period of the previous year, showing a special strength in transport regime, +9.7%.

Growth in the movement of cruise passengers slowed down in the first three months of the year compared to 2023, with an increase of 0.3%, to 1.84 million.

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