Barcelona Port’s goods and passenger traffic beat records

The Port of Barcelona has beaten records only 5 months into the current year. As one of the main Catalan infrastructures, the Port of Barcelona has transported a total of 23.7 million tons of goods during the first 5 months of 2017. This figure represents an increase of 20.2% compared to the same period in 2016. According to a press release from the Port of Barcelona published on Thursday, this increase was possible thanks to the efficient loading of the containers, bulk liquids–mainly hydrocarbon–and the transportation of the goods on the Mediterranean highways.

In addition, exports registered a growth of 8.8%, while imports increased by 6.5%. The Port of Barcelona also crossed the benchmark of 1 million passengers in the first five months of the year, which translates into an increase of 6.4%.

The Port of Barcelona has registered the transportation of 1.1 million containers (20 feet high), which means an increase of 27.6% compared to the same period in 2016. The most notable increase was registered in cargo containers, which have increased 87.7% in this time period. The port also transferred 5.6 millions tons of bulk liquid products, which is an increase of 18.9%. The most important bulk liquid were hydrocarbons, increasing by 24%.

In terms of the total movement of passengers, these first 5 months of the year the Port of Barcelona has received more than 1 million passengers (1.1 million persons), a figure that translates into an increase of 6.4%. Of these, 388,778 (+16%) were users of ferries, to the Balearic Islands as well as to Italy (Civitavecchia, Genoa, Savona, Livorno, and Oporto) and North Africa (Tangiers, Nador, Tunis, and Mostaganem). The rest were cruise passengers (765,195 persons, +2%), who travelled on board one of the 248 cruise stops that the Port has received in the first five months of the year.

Regarding the transfer of vehicles, the terminals of the Port of Barcelona have managed a total of 363,361 vehicles, of which the majority (more than 302,000) were of foreign trade. Although the total volume of cars has decreased by 5.3% during the first 5 months of the year, the import has increased by 5%.

Another area of activity that registered very positive figures was the traffic of the rolled loads that traveled on platforms, trucks, and trailers. Up to May the port has registered a total of 162,265 units of intermodal transport (UTI), with an increase of 7.5%. This section includes the traffic with the Balearic Islands (101,386 UTI, +7%) and the merchandise transported by the Mediterranean Sea highways and 'short sea shipping' (SSS) services with Italy and North Africa, which experienced a growth of 8.2%.