Cargo traffic in ports starts the year strongly

• 24 out of 28 Port Authorities exceed 2021 figures.
• Solid bulk cargo (+26.2%), conventional general cargo (+19.2%), and liquid bulk cargo (+14.9%) experience the highest increases.

February 23, 2022 (Public Body Puertos del Estado). The 46 State-owned general interest ports coordinated by Puertos del Estado handled 46,677,711 tons in January, a figure that represents a +9.9% increase compared to 2021, becoming the second-best historical record for the start of the year, only surpassed by 143 thousand tons in 2019.

Out of the 28 Port Authorities managing the 46 State-owned general interest ports, 24 of them have exceeded the 2021 figures, and even, if we go back to 2019, the last record year, and compare it with this year, half of the Port Authorities have surpassed the data from that year.

The President of Puertos del Estado, Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena, stated that "it is a good start to the year, and if the forecasts of the Business Plans are met, we will achieve historical figures again at the end of the year, even surpassing what was achieved in 2019."

The main driver for the increase in traffic has been the movement of solid bulk cargo (+26.2%) and liquid bulk cargo (+14.9%), although conventional general cargo has also given a good boost (+19.2%), thus compensating for the decrease in general cargo in containers (-4.4%).

General cargo remains the main form of presentation with 22.2 million tons, of which 72% is cargo transported in containers.

Liquid bulk, with 15.2 million tons, has seen an increase in crude oil imports, which increased by 24%, and LNG, which rose by 56% compared to the previous year, leading to the mentioned increase of +14.9%.

Solid bulk cargo, with 8.2 million tons, has experienced a significant increase (+26.2%) thanks to the nearly doubling of the import movement of cereals and their flours to reach 1.7 million tons, as well as feeds and forages (+69%).

Container traffic, counted in 20-foot containers, with 1.45 million TEUs, remains very close to the figures of the previous year, with a slight decrease of -2%, motivated by the decrease in transit. However, container movements for both national (+13.4%) and import/export (+4.7%) have somewhat offset the decrease in transit.

Passenger traffic, which already showed signs of recovery during the second half of 2021, continues to advance, although the 1.2 million passengers are still far from the 2 million reached in the first month of 2019.