The Port of València moves 479,171 containers in April and sets monthly and year-on-year records
Container traffic last April was 6% higher than in April 2019 – a year which was not affected by COVID-19 – and 10% higher than in April 2020. In this last April 2021, 7,245,859 tonnes of goods were handled, an increase of 4.1% compared to 2019 and 13% compared to 2020, according to the company's release.
It is also the best year-on-year figure for container movements in the history of Valenciaport. Between April 2020 and this year, 5,542,090 TEUs were moved compared to the previous record of 5,513,371 (September 2019) and well above the 5,173,064 containers of July last year when the COVID-19 crisis hit the economy.
Valenciaport returns to the path of growth, closing the COVID-19 crisis, and with figures that, if they follow the natural evolution, allow us to point towards six million containers.
Cargo containers (exports) grew by 29.45% in the last month analysed in the APV Statistical Bulletin compared to 2020. For the first time, the year-on-year figure exceeded one million (1,007,677) TEUs oriented towards foreign trade.
In the first four months of the year, 28,086,030 tonnes of products were loaded and unloaded at the Valenciaport docks, 4.63% more than in 2019, while TEUs grew by 3%.
In the accumulated of the year, the export dynamism of construction materials (+37.44%) and the agri-food industry (+35.45%) is once again outstanding.
Data on goods movements and container traffic from Valenciaport for the month of April show that the port facilities managed by the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) have closed the crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2021, the Valenciaport docks operated 479,171 containers, i.e. 26,687 TEUs (standard 20-foot container) more than in April 2019, the year without the pandemic. In relative figures, this represents a growth of 5.9%, while compared to April last year, the increase is 9.9%.
These data are reinforced by year-on-year container management. Thus, between April this year and 2020, 5,542,090 were mobilised, a historic figure for Valenciaport (the previous figure was 5,513,371 corresponding to September 2019-2018), and leaving far behind the year-on-year data obtained in July 2020, when 5,173,064 TEUs were handled (the most complicated dates of COVID-19). Valenciaport’s activity recovers its dynamism of recent years because of the reactivation of Spanish goods and products companies and their exporting vocation. This puts the port facilities of Valencia, Sagunto and Gandia on track to reach six million containers in 2021.
The export flow once again plays a fundamental role. In April this year, cargo containers destined for sales abroad grew by 29.45% according to data from the PAV’s Statistical Bulletin. On a year-on-year basis, Valenciaport exceeded one million TEUs of cargo for the first time in its history, specifically reaching 1,007,677.
But not only containers have shown dynamism. The goods operated by Valenciaport in April this year were 7,245,859, 4.1% more than in 2019 and 13% more than in April 2020.
By country, full containers handled with China grew by 27.9% in the first four months of the year to 205,217. In contrast, the United States, with 175,056 TEUs, fell by 2.38%. They are followed by Turkey (+6.48), India (+38.65%). Other notable increases are Canada (+25.28%), Morocco (+44.96%) and Italy (+38.61%). By geographical areas, the Far East grew by 17.52%, the Mediterranean and Black Sea by 3.4%, West Africa by 33.81% and Atlantic South America by 10.36%.