This is the first time that the figure of 500,000 TEUs has been exceeded in a single month by a spanish port. A record that reaffirms the recovery of traffic after the worst of the COVID-19 and the relevance of Valenciaport for the import and export of the Valencian and Spanish economy, the company said in its release. Until August 2020, the two best months in the history of Valenciaport statistics were July 2019, when 494,262 TEUs were handled, and May 2019 (490,587).
Last month also saw an increase in the number of ships working in the Valenciaport facilities, rising from 666 in August 2019 to 752 last August. (Also calculated in gross registered tonnes, or GT – 24,677,530 – the increase was 7.38%).
In this increase in commercial activity, the growth of full containers, 11.52%, stands out, and especially the TEUs dedicated to exports, which register a positive behaviour of 18.18% in this month of August with respect to the same month of 2019. This figure reflects the activation of the production of goods and products of Spanish industry and its sales abroad.
With regard to import containers, these fell by 1.36% while those dedicated to transit increased by 12.7%. In addition, there was a 5.92% drop in empty containers during August. This was a month in which Valenciaport exceeded 7.2 million tonnes of goods, 2.45% more than in August last year, thus achieving a double positive traffic evolution indicator: in containers and in tonnes.
Furthermore, this milestone in container movement has its continuity with the growth of 12.94% in total containerised goods, which reached 5.8 million tonnes and contrasts with the 45% drop in bulk goods. This month of August also saw a decrease of 6.94% in ro-ro traffic, a much more moderate figure than in previous months.
In August, the countries which increased their trade relations with Valenciaport the most were India (+61.88), Italy (+118.44) and Morocco (+66.1%). As far as the countries with which most containers were handled are concerned, the first position in August is occupied by China with 64,149 followed by the USA with 53,488.
By product, the more than 87,000 containers with other goods (clothing, footwear, textiles and other consumer goods) stand out, followed by more than 50,000 TEU of construction materials or 46,000 TEU of chemical products. The greatest increases in goods traffic per TEU correspond to Rest of goods (+9.49%), Construction materials (14.14%) or Chemicals (10.14%).
In the comparison with 2019 of the accumulated figures for 2020, the data from Valenciaport continue to be conditioned by the Covid-19 crisis. Thus, in the first eight months of the year, freight traffic exceeded 51 million tonnes; 7.41% less than the same period in 2019. In the same eight months a total of 3,452,112 TEUs were mobilised, 7.35% less than the previous year.
According to the form of presentation of the goods, those arriving by container showed a more moderate trend with 39.93 million tonnes and a decrease of 4.57%, while the rest of the goods (liquid bulk, solid bulk and non-containerised) showed negative double-digit figures.
In this context, the agri-food sector showed a similar trend to the previous year between January and August, with a slight fall of 1.8% and around 5.2 million tonnes of goods moved.
By country, the USA continues to be Valenciaport’s main partner in commercial activities, both in terms of the number of TEUs and tonnage traffic. So far this year it has recorded decreases of 5.65% and 9.05% respectively. The United States is followed by China, with decreases of 8.23% in TEUs and 7.86% in tonnes. However, these falls are being offset by more dynamic countries such as the United Kingdom (+51.35 % increase in commercial traffic), Italy (+21.69 %), Canada (+20.87 %), Saudi Arabia (+15.63 %), Algeria (+13.30 %) and India (+5.46 %).
In the year, Valenciaport managed 315,368 vehicles commercially, 37.13% less than the previous year; although it should be noted that in this month of August the decline was more moderate (-6.94). Passenger traffic continues to be marked by the Covid-19 pandemic in the cruise sector (-88.3%), while regular line passengers have fallen by 39.6%.