Valenciaport has closed 2021 handling a total of 5,604,478 TEU, which is an increase of 3.25% over 2020, as well as 3% over the pre-pandemic year 2019.
Valencia’s container volumes confirm the forecasts of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) that the Spanish port would surpass the Greek Port of Piraeus, which was the fourth busiest port in Europe in 2020.
While overtaking the place of Pireaus, the Port of Valencia is now behind Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg in terms of box volumes.
Port officials have also highlighted the dynamism of the import/export drive of the Spanish companies that operated through the Valenciaport docks, “both in sales abroad and in the acquisition of products.”
Export containers totalled 1,081,103 TEU, while imports reached 837,584 TEU, representing increases of 13.9% and 17.4%, respectively, compared to 2020’s numbers.
On the other hand, during the last year, there was a year-on-year 3.5% decrease in full transshipment containers, while empty containers have grown marginally by 0.74% during the same period.
In total, the Spanish port handled 85,269,726 tonnes of goods in 2021, reflecting a growth of more than 5% over 2020 and 2019, according to the APV Statistical Bulletin.
Regarding the full container traffic, China continues to be Valenciaport’s main trading partner with 612,497 TEU in 2021, which translates to an increase of 14.4% year-on-year.
The president of the port authority, Aurelio Martínez said that 2021 had “two parts, in the first we grew at a very strong rate, while in the second this increase slowed down a little.”
Martínez noted that the port is on the verge of its maximum capacity of 7.5 million TEU and, these limitations are noticeable when there is a lot of operational cargo. “That is why the new northern container terminal is essential if we want to continue to be a port of reference in world traffic,” he pointed out.
