Valenciaport exceeds one million export containers for the first time in a year
For the first time in the history of the Port of Valencia, containers destined for export (cargo) have exceeded the figure of one million units (TEUs) in one year (period between May 2020 and April 2021), according to the provisional data of the Statistical Bulletin of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) for the month of May, according to the company's release. This is a figure that represents 5% more than that reflected in the last inter-annual measurement and which once again highlights the relevance of Valenciaport as a tool at the service of exporting companies; a sector that is proving key to economic recovery, after the crisis generated by the effects of COVID-19.
The advance of the PAV’s provisional statistical data for April shows that the number of containers full of cargo (for export) grew by 18.45%; a figure that maintains its strength in the accumulated of the year (January-April) where it also offers an increase of 17.45%.
The PAV’s definitive traffic data will be available at the end of next week, although, in any case, they are in line with the export strength shown in the second half of 2020, when the average annual growth of export TEUs was 11%. For the PAV, the figures ratify once again that the export activity of the import/export business network of the Valencian Community and Spain is particularly strategic for recovery.
According to the latest definitive data from the PAV’s statistical bulletin for containerised goods for March, by statistical heading, “construction materials” was the most dynamic in exports, with a total of 1,544,434 tonnes; 32.62% more than in the first quarter of 2020. It was followed by “chemical products”, with 384,455 tonnes mobilised and an increase of 16.46%. This was followed by “wines, beverages and similar” with a growth of 22.52% and 266,795 tonnes handled; “foodstuffs” with 244,873 tonnes (+56.28%); “other goods” with 176,430 tonnes (+20.34%); and “paper and pulp” with an increase of 34.85%.
Exports by Spanish industries are emerging as a key driver of the country’s economic recovery. This is confirmed by institutions such as the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism in its ‘Action Plan for the Internationalisation of the Spanish Economy 2021-22’, which is aligned with the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which includes as one of its strategic lines of work: Configuring the foreign sector as a pillar of growth and employment through the diversification of exports and the establishment of Spanish companies in strategic sectors and destinations, as well as attracting foreign direct investment in strategic sectors.
In its estimates, the Ministry points out that one of the keys to the positive trend in the foreign sector is geographical diversity, less dependence on the euro zone and a greater weight of exports in Asia, Africa and North America, and to a lesser extent Latin America. These are the market areas where the presence and connectivity of Valenciaport has grown the most; the best connected Spanish port, fourth in Europe and in the top 20 worldwide, according to data from the United Nations (UNCTAD).
In this line, according to the report The Port of València, key to the diversification of Valencian exports, prepared by the Chamber of Commerce, reaffirms the importance of the port area in the expansion of the export base and markets of the Valencian Community, “in the last two decades there has been a process of diversification of export and import markets, towards more dynamic and emerging markets, such as North America and Asia, which have gone from representing 8% in 2000 to 13% or more in 2020. The diversification of export markets has taken place towards North America and Asia, where maritime transport accounts for more than 65% of exports. Along the same lines, the non-European markets of the Mediterranean (North Africa, Turkey and Israel) are experiencing a notable dynamism, increasing their weight in Valencian foreign trade”.
In this sense, the study by the Valencia Chamber of Commerce states that “among the factors that have boosted the diversification of markets for Valencian companies in the last two decades is the notable development of the port of Valencia, with the increase in the size of ships, containerisation, the growth of maritime lines and the reduction in freight rates. Valencian and Spanish companies have such a powerful infrastructure as ValenciaPort, which with its high connectivity (the highest among Spanish ports) and degree of digitalisation, facilitates the process of market diversification and internationalisation towards areas of greater geographical remoteness, which are also large and more dynamic markets than the European economy itself”.
The Valencian port maintains commercial relations with a thousand ports in 168 different countries and operates with 98 regular lines managed by 35 different shipping companies. An operation that values Valenciaport as a driving industry at the service of the logistics community and the Spanish import/export business network, and without doubt, a fundamental tool so that Castellón tiles, cars manufactured in any Spanish factory, agri-foodstuffs, Spanish wines, or chemical products, among others, can be consumed in markets as diverse as the United States, China, Canada, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, India, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, New Zealand or Vanuatu.
Thus, according to PAV records, 45% of container traffic with origin or destination Valenciaport corresponds to the geographical area of the Middle and Far West, while 25% corresponds to the American continent, of which 12% corresponds to the United States and Canada. A figure, 12%, like the TEUs mobilised in the Mediterranean/Black Sea area.
