With a growth of 7.4%, it is closing in on 237.3 million, the all-time high reached in 2019
Total port traffic in the first five months of the year has exceeded 236.6 million tonnes
- Conventional general cargo (+11.1%), ro-ro traffic (+12.5%) and national and international container traffic (+2.7%) have already surpassed the 2019 figures
23/06/2022 (Public body Puertos del Estado). Total port traffic continues to recover the momentum lost during the two years of the pandemic. In the first five months of 2022, a total of 236,596,502 tonnes of cargo was moved, up 7.35% compared to 2021 and just 730,000 tonnes short of the all-time high reached in 2019.
Bulk freight, both solid (+14%) and liquid (+12.7%), has been the fastest growing. Among solid bulks, the products driving this growth were: grains and grain flours, with 5.9 million tonnes (+53%); coal and petroleum coke, with 6.9 million tonnes (+37%), and non-metallic minerals, with 7.3 million tonnes (+14%). Among liquid bulks, the highlights were: natural gas, with more than 9.5 million tonnes (+72%); petrol, with 7 million tonnes (+33%); and crude oil, with 26.6 million tonnes (+16%).
General cargo, with a total of 115.9 million tonnes (+1.3%), was only 360,000 tonnes short of the all-time high reached in 2019 record — although conventional general cargo, with 35.3 million tonnes (+11%), has already surpassed the 2019 figures. The commodities that grew the most by volume were wood and cork (+22%) and wines, alcohols and derivatives (+15%).
Ro-ro traffic, which refers to commercial vehicles shipped with loaded cargo, grew to more than 29.69 million tonnes (+12.5% vs 2021), exceeding 2019 figures by 2 million tonnes and setting a new all-time high.
Container traffic, measured in twenty-foot equivalent units, has exceeded 7.3 million TEU. Although traffic is down 2.3%, this has been offset by the increase in national container traffic (+8.4%) and import/export (+0.9%).
Finally, passenger volume continues to recover at a steady pace, surpassing 8.48 million passengers in the first five months of the year. Just over 2 million of those were cruise passengers (+138.5% vs 2021). In terms of cruise calls, the 1,808 ships that arrived in Spanish ports have already surpassed 2019's figures by 12%.
