Barcelona Port increases goods traffic by 9% in the first quarter of 2014

Barcelona (ACN).- The Port of Barcelona handled 10.7 million tons of goods during the first 3 months of 2014, which represents a 9% increase on the same period last year, according to this Tuesday's press release. Between January and March, all the types of transported goods posted a significant growth, and the same trend applies to the traffic of passengers, which grew by 9%. In the first quarter of the year, the number of vehicles transported grew by 5%, as did the number of containers, which reached 428,720 TEU.  Container imports increased by 7% and exports by 3%. Container exports grew particularly to countries such as China (+31%), the United States (+17%), Morocco (+35%) and Mexico (+87%). The traffic of bulk liquids increased by 24%, particularly diesel and other fuel, as well as chemical products.

The number of containers that went through the Port of Barcelona between January and March 2014 reached 428,720 TEU, a 5% increase on the same period of 2013. Besides the number of containers that change ship in Barcelona or continue to another harbour, the number of imported containers surpassed the 100,000 TEU mark, which represents a 7% increase. Furthermore, 132,246 TEU containers were exported, a 3% increase. The countries that received most of the containers exported from the Catalan capital were China (which posted a +31% export increase), the United States (+17%), Morocco (+35%), Mexico (+87%) and Saudi Arabia (+11%).

Cars are another strategic type of goods transported from the Port of Barcelona. In the first 3 months of the year, 174,613 new vehicles went through the Catalan capital's harbour, a 5% growth compared to the same period last year. Import of cars increased by 35%, reaching 26,108 imported vehicles. However, the largest volume is exported cars, with 103,167 vehicles (a 7.5% increase).

The increase of oil-related and chemical products proves the economic recovery

The type of goods that posted the highest increase were goods in bulk. Bulk liquids grew by 24%. Transported diesel increased by 53%; fuel oil by 37% and gasoline by 5%. In addition, bio-fuel increased by 92%, with 402,667 tons handled. Bulk chemical products grew by 60%, reaching 275,810 tons. The transport of such goods is considered to be an indicator of the recovery of the production capacity for industrial economies such as the Catalan one. In addition, solid products in bulk reached 1.1 million tons, a 17% increase. The transport of cement (+81.5%) and soy beans (+33%) are particularly noteworthy.

Passenger transport continues to grow

Finally, the number of passengers transported in the winter months reached 390,949, a 9% increase compared to the figures registered in the first quarter of 2013. 131,911 passengers used ferries (mostly to the Balearic Islands) and 253,038 boarded cruise ships. The number of cruise passengers increased by 14% in the period analysed. Up to the end of March, 88 cruise ships had docked in the Catalan capital, a 33% increase on the 2013 figures.