Valenciaport’s traffic increases again
Traffic is growing again at Valenciaport. After six months reflecting downward records, the Statistical Bulletin of the Port Authority of València (PAV) shows positive data in September: the Valencian docks have managed last month 6,294,649 tons of goods -which represents an increase of 2.09% over the same month of 2022-.
In parallel, for the fourth consecutive month, the total volume of goods handled from the Valencian docks shows signs of stabilisation with an increase in imports (+7.76% tonnes) and a moderate fall of -4.46% in the number of containers handled (385,830 compared to 403,843 TEU’s in September last year).
On analysing the monthly data provided by the Bulletin, it can be seen that the growth in traffic in Valenciaport is due to the increase in the management of the total of general cargo, with the ‘non-containerised’ registering an increase of 14.47% and the containerised registering a rise of 0.38%. On the other hand, the tonnes of bulk handled from the Valencian docks have fallen by -8.97% compared to September 202. The records for the first nine months of the year show a negative balance of -6.97% in terms of tonnes handled and -9.96% in terms of containers.
Freight transport by train continues to grow and in the first nine months of the year a total of 176,768 TEUs entered and left the Valencian docks by rail: 2,416,344 tonnes have been moved, a 6.90% increase. On a very positive note, in the last twelve months the number of vehicles transported by rail traffic has grown significantly by +267.23%, with 31,509 more vehicles than in the same period of the previous year. This fact demonstrates the success of Valenciaport’s rail expansion plan and contributes to achieving the Zero Emissions 2030 objective.
In line with the growth figures for rail transport, ro-ro traffic (short sea shipping services for ro-ro cargo) grew by 15.65% at Valenciaport’s docks in September to reach 51,221 units. Following a constant upward trend, this type of traffic now totals 10,051,754 tonnes transported in 2023, 1.71% more than in the same period in 2022.
Likewise, the PAV’s Statistical Bulletin also shows a sustained and continued increase in the movement of automobiles throughout 2023. Thus, between January and September, the València and Sagunto docks have handled 476,405 units, which represents a growth of 18.62%. This positive trend is also maintained in the vehicles and transport elements sector, specifically in the section of automobiles and their parts, which has grown in the last twelve months by 14.84% to reach 1,531,043 tonnes and in fertilisers, which have grown by 4.98% (603,093 tonnes handled compared to 574,470 tonnes handled in the same period last year).
The number of total passengers (cruises and regular lines) has also grown by 19.76% in the last twelve months, which means a total of 747,490 cruise passengers and 758,88 people who have travelled on regular lines with the Balearic Islands and Algeria. This month the number of cruise passengers has risen slightly in September in the Port of Valencia +5.06% compared to the same month in 2022.
Traffic with the Far East remained stable and the number of containers handled from January to September reached 585,177 TEUs (+0.67%). China is Valenciaport’s main trading partner in 2023 with the management of 413,445 containers, closely followed by the United States with 269,353; although the countries that have grown most in their traffic with València were Egypt (+26.77%), Vietnam (+24.55%) and India (+13.46%). Focusing on traffic by country in terms of tonnage, Italy continues to be Valenciaport’s main trading partner with 4,966,696 tonnes handled this year, followed by China with 4,739,454 and the USA with 4,244,923. Egypt achieved a growth in tonnage of 29.54% and Nigeria again grew for another month along with India by 25.30% and 20.97%, respectively.