Liquid bulk traffic in the first month of the year grew by 13.8% and solid bulk by 21.4%
Container throughput in January fell by 23.6%, especially transit (-28.1%) and unloading (-32.3%), while export container throughput contracted by 10.2%
The complex international situation continues to affect the production of goods and services in Valenciaport’s hinterland, both for imports and exports
Total goods traffic stands at 5,715,093 with a fall of 15.95%
The dynamism continues in the movement of vehicles, which increased by 8.6% and ro-ro traffic by 7.9%
By sectors, it is worth highlighting the 53.22% growth in cereals and 48.22% in animal feed and fodder. Natural gas handled in the Port of Sagunto increases in January by 1.25%
Italy is the main trading partner for goods with Valenciaport, with 536,453 tonnes and an increase of 1.37%. By TEU, China continues to be the leading country, closely followed by the United States
The dynamism of India (+20%), Canada (+22.8%), Mexico (+47.9%) and the United Arab Emirates (+19.7%) should be highlighted
The complex international situation resulting from a year 2022 in which the war in Ukraine and its implications for the energy and food commodity markets, the Chinese government’s Covid-zero policy, and inflation unprecedented in recent decades substantially complicated the macroeconomic scenario forecast, both in the West and in the rest of the world. The year 2023 is not looking any better, with the word “recession”, for many economies and even in global terms, in the analyses of most analysts and major international economic institutions. This is how the latest International Economic Situation report by Vicente Pallardó, director of the Valenciaport Chair of Port Economics, began his analysis.
Valenciaport, as a thermometer of the import/export activity of its hinterland and the international economic situation, has begun the year 2023 with an increase in liquid and solid bulk traffic and a fall in goods per container. According to data from the Statistical Bulletin of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), the first month of the year shows an increase of 13.8% in liquid bulk compared to January 2022 and 21.4% in solid bulk. In the accumulated 2022, liquid bulks ended with an increase of 50.4% and solid bulks of 4.45%. Regarding non-containerised goods, growth was 3.28%, while goods and products arriving by container fell by 24%.
This means that, in January of this year, 5,715,093 tonnes of goods were handled, which represents a drop of 15.95% compared to the same month in 2022. The Port of Valencia, which specialises in containers, is experiencing a fall in the number of containers, as is the case in other major European ports at the start of the year. Thus, a total of 343,793 TEU (standard 20-foot container) have been mobilised, representing a decrease of 23.57%. Of these, the full containers have suffered a drop of 25%, especially the decrease of 32.3% in those dedicated to unloading (import), a symptom linked to the production of the companies and domestic consumption which in previous months had shown positive figures. Those for loading (export) fell by 10.2%, while those for transit, continuing the trend of recent months, fell by 28.1%. As for empty vessels, the contraction was 18.6%.
About the sectors, the activity of two agri-food industries should be highlighted. On the one hand, cereals and their flours increased in the first month of the year by 53.22% to over 136,000 tonnes, 95% of which were imports. On the other hand, animal feed and fodder grew by 48.2%. The energy industry, mainly natural gas, which rose by 1.25% and fuel oil (+48.5%), also showed a positive trend.
The dynamism of vehicles continues
The year 2023 has also started with a good tone in the automobile units handled by the ports of Valencia and Sagunto, with a total of 46,934 automobiles, 8.6% more than in January 2022. For its part, ro-ro traffic reached 997,286 tonnes, 7.9% more than in the same month of 2022.
In terms of passengers, the year began with 51,663 movements, both on regular lines and cruises, representing an increase of 4.5%. Of these, more than 46,000 are on regular lines with the Balearic Islands or Algeria, which grew by 12.77%, while cruise passengers fell by 36.2%.
Year-on-year figures
In year-on-year terms (Feb 22-Jan 23), total goods handled amounted to 77,883,892 tonnes, 8.18% less than the same period of the previous year. As for the number of TEUs, these reached 4,946,278, a decrease of 11.5%. In this section, the number of full TEUs for export fell by 8.36% and those for import fell by 1.79%. On the other hand, those for transit fell by 18.63% to just over 2 million, 450,000 fewer than in the same period of the previous year.
Italy is the main partner
Italy reaffirmed its position as Valenciaport’s main partner in the first month of the year. Trade with the European country amounted to 536,453 tonnes (+1.37%). The United States is in second place with 511,211 tonnes and a fall of 19.6%, while China with 380,395 tonnes fell by 36%. On the other hand, India’s potential stands out in fourth place with 244,355 tonnes and an increase of 20%. Other dynamic countries are Mexico (+47.9%), Canada (+22.8%) and the United Arab Emirates (+19.7%).
By containers, China continues to be the main country with 31,945 TEU (-38.8%), closely followed by the United States with 30,376 TEU (-21.44%) and India with 15,708 (+10.6%).