​Port traffic fell by 4% compared to the same period last year

Spanish ports moved 408 million tons up to September

• Passengers, both cruise and scheduled, reached 30.5 million, which is 20% more than during January–September 2022

10/26/2023 (State Ports Public Agency). Traffic in the state-owned port system continues to suffer from the global economic slowdown and geopolitical uncertainty. 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 trend of recent months continues with solid bulk, registering increases in these first nine months of 0.2%, up to 69.5 million tons, thanks to the movement of cereals (+49.5%) and a slight rebound in coal (+6.4%). Moreover, general merchandise fell 5.5%, dragged down by containerized merchandise (-8.2%). With regard to liquid bulk, despite its growth in September compared to the same month of the previous year (+5.7%), in the cumulative nine months of the year it remains below the same period last year (-3.7%).

Conventional general merchandise increased by 0.8% to 63.3 million tons, driven by vehicles (+26.5%) up to 2.87 million tons, and by cereals and their flours (in this form of presentation), which increased by 46.8%. Ro-ro traffic grew by 1% to 54.3 million tons.

The number of merchant ships through Spanish ports increased by 5.5% compared to the first nine months of 2022, with a total of 125,914 units, and gross tonnage grew by 6.7%.

Passenger traffic is also on the upward trend. In total, 30.5 million people passed through Spanish ports between January and September, 20.1% more than in the same months of the previous year. It is worth highlighting the end of the Strait Pass operation which, from its beginning on June 15 until its official termination on September 15, registered an all-time maximum movement of 3.2 million people and 775,366 vehicles through the main Spanish ports with connections to North Africa (with Algeciras and Almeria at the head), in what is considered the largest movement of people between two continents, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior.

Up to September, cruise passengers exceeded 8.4 million, 56.6% more than the previous year, and confirming the sustained recovery of the sector this year.

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