The import of goods by maritime transport grew steadily in 2017, following the trend of recent years. Despite the strikes last year in Spanish ports, maritime traffic achieved its best result since 2006 with a growth of over 7% and with the ports of Barcelona, Valencia, and Algeciras leading the way. As for goods, chemicals, fuels, lubricants, automobile components, and equipment for air navigation were the products that experienced the highest growth compared to 2016.
According to the data from Puertos del Estado, the Spanish ports with the highest traffic in 2017 were again those of Barcelona, Valencia, and Algeciras. Their volume of transit and import of goods places them in the ranking of the 100 most important ports worldwide. Specifically, the port of Valencia is, thanks to its geostrategic position, the fifth in Europe, with more than 100 regular lines and connections to 1,000 ports around the world.
The ports of Barcelona, Valencia, and Algeciras led container traffic in 2017, ranking among the top globally. The most imported products were chemicals, fuels, lubricants, automobile components, and equipment for air navigation.
The most important ports in container traffic
The port of Barcelona stood out above the rest with a growth of over 25%, but that of Algeciras closed the year with a total traffic of more than 100 million tons, a figure surpassed only by 3 European ports, those of Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Hamburg.
Nationally, container maritime traffic in TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) grew by more than 4.5%. Once again, Valencia, Algeciras, and Barcelona were the ports that moved the most containers in 2017. The port of Barcelona had the highest growth in TEUs compared to the previous year, with an increase of over 33%.
Import and export of goods by maritime transport
Regarding the import of goods by maritime transport, chemical products, fuels, lubricants, and automobile components stand out. Above all of them, the product with the highest growth compared to 2016 was air navigation equipment, with an increase close to 40%. As for exports, the ranking is composed of chemical products, automobiles, and their components.
The import of goods in Spain represented 26.67% of its GDP, ranking it 64th out of 188 in imports relative to GDP and 174th in the world in absolute figures, with a volume of 310.380 billion euros.
Spanish ports handled 15,922,613 TEUs, an increase of 5.07% over 2016. Of these, 8,495,000 correspond to containers in transit and the rest correspond to national and external container traffic, 3.17% more than a year ago. The volume of import-export containers amounted to 5,457,752 TEUs, with Algeciras in the first position in the ranking.
As noteworthy data, it is worth mentioning the 443.77% increase recorded in the port of Santander, with a significant movement of import-export containers. The port of Huelva, with an increase of 392.01%, was another that boosted its activity in 2017.
Thus, despite the setbacks that occurred in 2017, the closure has been positive for the import of goods by maritime transport and indicators suggest that 2018 will maintain sustained growth.
