Home World Rail freight traffic at Valenciaport grows by 15% so far this year

Rail freight traffic at Valenciaport grows by 15% so far this year


Rail transport continues to grow at Valenciaport. During the first four months of this year, 8,744 TEUs entered and left the Valencian docks by rail: 141,000 tonnes were moved, a 15% increase

Uncertainty is still present in international markets and container traffic still shows negative figures. Valenciaport handled 401,253 units in April, 17% less than in the same month of 2022

By sectors, traffic of automobiles and their parts has grown from January to April by 22.32% to reach 703,461 tonnes (+128,358). In the first four months of this year, almost 13,000 more vehicles have been moved than in the same period last year

After vehicles and transport elements, the sectors with the greatest increase in activity are fertilisers (+10.6%) and the energy sector (+3.45%)

China is Valenciaport’s main trading partner, closely followed by the United States, although the countries with the highest growth in traffic with Valencia were Mexico (+22.3%), Egypt (+22%), India (+18.1%) and Senegal (+17.6%)

International trade has not yet found the stability demanded by the market. The world economy continues to be marked by the complex situation of the war in Ukraine and growing inflation, among other factors, and by strong imbalances in trade flows between different areas of the world. This can be seen in the traffic data of Valenciaport’s April Statistical Bulletin for the first four months of 2023.

The analysis shows a fall of 11.94% in the volume of containers handled between January and April, where the figure of 1,516,635 TEU (standard 20-foot container) was reached. However, the data are positive in the traffic referred to liquid bulk (+2.63%), the number of ships (+3.94%) and passengers (+7.82%).

Moreover, the success of the measures sponsored by the APV to promote rail transport is confirmed: during the first four months of the year, goods handled by train grew. Calculated in tonnes, they registered an increase of 15% (141,389 tonnes) and in containers (8,744 TEUs), an increase of 13.3%.

The latest data from the Statistical Bulletin of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) also show a sustained increase in the movement of automobiles so far this year. Thus, between January and April, the docks of Valencia and Sagunto have handled 211,846 units, 6.47% more than in the same period last year. This is also the case in the automobile and parts sector, which has grown by 22.32% in the first four months of the year to reach 703,461 (+128,358).

By sectors, after vehicles and transport elements (which have the greatest weight in Valenciaport), the sector with the greatest growth is that of fertilisers with 254,938 tonnes (+10.6%) and energy with 1.6 million tonnes (+3.45%). However, if we take total traffic into account, the agricultural, livestock and food sector continues to occupy second place with a traffic volume of 2.8 million tonnes. Behind it, other goods (wood, paper, machinery, etc.) have mobilised 2.5 million tonnes and the construction materials sector has accumulated 1.9 million tonnes in the first four months of the year.

The number of passengers has also grown by 7.82% so far in 2023 and for the month has been 20.75% more than in April 2022. In the first four months of the year, the total number of people who have travelled on regular lines with the Balearic Islands and Algeria was 191,261 (+5.24%), while cruise passengers were 78,003 (+14.73%).

Uncertainty in international trade

Valenciaport handled 401,253 TEUs (standard 20-foot or 6.1-metre containers) in April, 17% less than in the same month of 2022. Of these, 66,329 were loading containers and 73,600 were unloading containers, with the remainder dedicated to transhipment and empty containers. On a positive note, ro-ro traffic (short sea ro-ro services) transported 4,291,858 tonnes, an increase of 5.32%.

If we consider the total number of TEUs managed by Valenciaport in the first four months of the year, full containers have accounted for a total of 1,159,138: cargo (export) 285,359 units and unloading (import) 266,924, the rest being transit  containers. These figures reflect a decrease of 11.94% compared to the same period last year, with a total of 1,516,635 containers moved. The rest of the European ports are moving along the same lines. The transit of containers in the port of Rotterdam has fallen by 11.6% in the first quarter of the year while in the port of Hamburg the fall has been 16.9%.

In the month of April, 6,341,672 tonnes were handled, 13.88% less than in the same month of 2022. About the accumulated four-month period, traffic continues to follow the trend of previous months and totals 24.5 million tonnes, reflecting a fall of 8.40%. However, liquid bulks grew by 2.6% and non-containerised cargo also increased by 3.1%.

Mexico and Egypt increased their traffic by more than 20%

If we calculate in containers (TEUs), China continues to be Valencia’s main partner with 165,607 containers, followed by the USA with 116,052 and Turkey with 67,090. Despite the decrease in the three previous countries, in this first four-month period, significant growth was observed in Mexico and Egypt with an increase of 22%, India with 18.1% and Senegal with 17.6%, respectively.

Focusing on total traffic, Italy continues to be Valenciaport’s main trading partner with 2,322,423 tonnes handled in the last month (-7.4%), followed by China with 1,930,746 (-9.4%) and the USA with 1,914,952 (-37%). Nigeria achieved a growth of 45.28% and Egypt 31.20%.

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