Decline in Valencia freight slows

Analysis in July shows a 6.91% drop in the number of containers handled and a 9.15% drop in the volume of tonnes, which is lower than the 10.41% and 8.14% respectively in the year to date. July is the second month in a row to show slowing decline.

These figures are in line with other major European ports, which are all feeling the effects of geopolitical unrest and high inflation in the US and Eurozone.

Despite the slowdown in trade at Valencia, rail transport continues to rise and during the first seven months of 2023 a total of 153,581 teu entered and left the Valencian docks by rail, an increase of 20.63% over the same period last year, showing that measures to encourage rail transport as part of the authority’s decarbonisation plan are working.

Cruise tourism also continues to rise with the number of passengers up 15% so far this year.

Short sea RoRo services also grew in July by 14.25% compared to the same month last year. Following a constant upward trend, this type of traffic now totals 7,963,230 tonnes transported in 2023, 2.19% more than in the same period of 2022.

This positive trend is also maintained in the vehicles and transport elements sector, specifically automobiles and parts, which has grown in this period by 16.32%.

China is Valenciaport’s main trading partner in terms of teu handled, followed by the US. Countries which have seen the largest increases in traffic are Vietnam, Egypt, India and Brazil.

In terms of tonnage, Italy tops the list, followed by China and the US. Nigeria achieved a growth of 37.22%, Egypt again grew for another month along with India by 25.64% and 22.63%, respectively.