Cargo traffic in Spanish State ports starts 2025 with 43 million tons

•    TEUs increased by 2.9% in January, with a 10.5% rise in import-export traffic.
•    Spanish ports recorded 2.4 million passenger movements.

February 25, 2025 (Puertos del Estado). State ports handled 43 million tons of cargo in January 2025, representing a 6.4% decrease compared to the same month in 2024. After a provisional close of 2024 with 557.7 million tons (+2.7% compared to 2023), this year started with some weakness, partly due to storms affecting the Spanish coast in January, causing temporary terminal closures and preventing vessels from accessing ports.

General cargo recorded a 1.7% increase in the first month of the year, reaching 21.7 million tons, driven by a 3% rise in conventional cargo—surpassing the 2.1% growth recorded in 2024—and a more moderate increase of 1.2% in containerized cargo.

TEUs rose by 2.9% in January, reaching 1.4 million tons, with an apparent shift in the trend of transshipment TEUs. After a 15.1% increase in 2024, the year began with a 2.3% decline in this segment, but import-export TEUs grew by 10.5%.

Solid bulk cargo continued the downward trend already observed in 2024 (-6.4%), falling by 18.3% to 6.18 million tons, weighed down by declines in cereals (-41.9%) and coal (-29.7%).

Liquid bulk cargo also decreased by 10.8%, reaching 14 million tons, mainly due to the drop in crude oil and oil product traffic.

Ro-ro traffic grew by 4.2% to 5.9 million tons.
The number of merchant vessels calling at Spanish ports fell by 2.2% in January 2025, totaling 12,197 units, while gross tonnage decreased by 3.1%.
Passenger traffic started 2025 with a 10.4% increase, reaching 2.4 million passengers.