The port of Valencia has achieved a container throughput of more than 5.16 million TEU for the period between January and November, surpassing not only last year’s volumes but also those of 2019, which was a year prior to the Covid-19 crisis with volume records.
This traffic uptrend over the figures of the two previous years has been observed for several months, and according to the consultancy firm Alphaliner, the Valencia port overtook the Greek port of Piraeus last September, which means that Valenciaport could become the fourth-busiest European port, after Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg.
During the first eleven months of the year, a total of 1,002,870 containers loaded with products manufactured in Spain have left Valenciaport’s terminals at a rate of 3,000 units per day. At the same time, 757,342 containers have entered the Spanish port, which translates to a daily rate of 2,275 boxes.
In both cases, these figures represent a year-on-year increase of more than 16%, according to data from Valencia Port Authority (VPA), with the United States being the main partner of the port’s exports, which stood at 135,103 containers, followed by China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with 68,937 TEU, 44,857 TEU, and 34,255 TEU, respectively.
Additionally, the energy sector has been the most active in foreign sales with an increase of 57.33%. Sales of construction materials are following with a growth of almost 26%, while iron and steel have been raised by more than 23% and the agri-food industry by 19.4%, compared to the January – November period of 2020.
Regarding the period between December 2020 – November 2021, Valenciaport handled a total of 5,646,844 TEU, representing a growth of 5.41% year-on-year. Export containers amounted to 1,091,149, and imports reached 820,328 TEU, reflecting an improvement of approximately 16% for both sectors.
