Valencia stands tall amid downturn

However, it is to leave until the end of 2010 any decision regarding a tender for a proposed fourth container terminal, representing a delay of at least a year.

Work on the northern extension to the port began in July 2008 and will require investment of ¢193m ($262.3m). A 40-week work programme will create an outer breakwater of 3.38 kilometres and some 14 hectares of land.

In related news, MSC Terminal Valencia has issued a tender in respect of expansion of its existing site, in a contract that could be worth ¢7.67m ($10.4m). Bids were due by May 25.

The line has announced that over the next two years it plans to position a further one million teu between the ports of Valencia and Tangier. It does not rule out switching containers from the Italian transhipment hub of Gioia Tauro.

Marítima Valenciana is spending $100m on adapting part of its existing terminal for the exclusive use of the Swiss company. Unlike Tangier, Valencia offers MSC both extensive import/export traffic and numerous transshipment possibilities. So, Tangier will function as a hub for boxes to and from the northern Europe, while Valencia will increasingly specialise in South American and African transhipment. In 2008, the shipping line handled 2.12m teu in Valencia, an increase of 31%; it now accounts for 59% of all containers moved in the port.