Nasim Alahmad, VP for Transport and Infrastructure of the Aqaba Development Corporation, says that container throughput is especially encouraging, having risen 15% in 2004 upon reaching 360,000TEUs, although this is expected to double over the next ten years. APM Terminals was awarded a twoyear contract to develop the box terminal in March 2004, which is due to expire at the end of the current financial year. However, Alahmad explains that this agreement will then be converted into an equal joint venture partnership with the port, which will allow development of the terminal to continue, as expansion will boost capacity to 3m TEUs/year.
The other advantage that Valencia has is that it is situated just 300km from Madrid, half the distance faced in the overland haul from Barcelona. To rub salt into the wound, hauliers operating out of Valencia benefit from a free motorway link to the Spanish capital, while truckers from Barcelona have to pay! Understandably, discretional traffic has progressively switched from Barcelona to Valencia to reap the reward of such benefits.
