Port accessIn its Strategic Plan 2018-2022, Port Authority outlines bases for Bilbao to become a reference port in Atlantic Arc traffic, to respond to the logistics needs for the strategic industrial sectors in its hinterland and to continue contributing to the improvement in competitiveness among its clients in international trade.
The Plan is centred on five main points with a view to passing the 37-million tonne mark in five years.
It seeks to consolidate its leadership and recover traffic in closest hinterland, as well as on the remaining Atlantic faces such as North and Central America.
To achieve this, together with drawing up a new Commercial Plan, it considers gradually reducing prices over the next four years to contribute to the Port’s competitiveness.
Under the motto Zure etorkizunarekin bat (Basque for Committed to your future), the Port Authority of Bilbao has presented its Strategic Plan for 2018-2022, which is centred on its customers. In this, the Port Authority establishes the bases for Bilbao to become a reference port in Atlantic Arc traffic, to respond to the logistics needs for the strategic industrial sectors in its hinterland and to continue contributing to the improvement in competitiveness among its clients in international trade. At efficiency level, the Port seeks to optimise its operational capacity and help competitiveness in the whole value chain in an environment where intense competition among great logistics operators already exists.
The presentation was made by Port Authority Chairman, Asier Atutxa, and was held in the new Port of Bilbao cruise maritime station at Getxo before a large representation of the port community, public and private entities and economic and institutional representatives. The Chairman of Spanish State Ports, José Llorca, and the Basque Government Minister for Economic Development and Competitiveness, Arantza Tapia, also took part.
In general, the 2018-2022 Port Authority Strategic Plan centres on five main points, three of which are external and two internal:
1. Growth and Competitiveness, which comprises optimisation of cost and quality of services offered to vessels and goods, improvement of connectivity so as the Port will be consolidated as the main entrance and departure port on the Atlantic Arc, consolidating its leadership in its closest hinterland, increasing logistics-port set-ups and continuing to promote the smart-port concept.
2. Economic Impact, for which the Port must respond to the logistics needs of strategic clusters, create intermodal infrastructure and prioritise land occupancy that maximises value generation and to boost cruise traffic.
3. Social benefits, focussed on the social groups in the Port’s surroundings, meaning it is an element open to the community as well as reinforcing excellence in its environmental management.
4. Management Excellence, implying organisation that places the customer as the central element in the activity, strengthening team work through projects and processes of customer attention and maintaining a constant attitude to anticipating changes in the work environment.
5. Economic-financial sustainability, that is, the Port Authority will maintain an appropriate economic-financial balance bearing in mind income, recourses generation, investments and operating costs over the coming years.
With these strategic bases, the Port of Bilbao aspires to pass the 37million- tonne mark in 2022, which implies 2.7% average yearly growth. To achieve this, a specific commercial plan has been drawn up which segments main traffics according to their attractiveness and performance capacity, and which in addition, must enable the Port to consolidate its leadership and recover traffic in its closest hinterland, besides capturing strategic foreland on the European Atlantic, as well as on both the remaining Atlantic faces such as North and Central America and India and China.
In order to achieve this, the Port Authority contemplates gradually applying a reduction in prices around the Strategic Plan of up to 5.6 million euros in 2022 to contribute to the Port’s competitiveness.
To succeed in these aims, the Port offers other competitive advantages: it is in an ideal position on the Bay of Biscay; it is the port generating most traffic in the region and is in a solid economic-financial state. In addition, it has diverse infrastructures in the development stage, which will enable the reception of goods of all classes. Moreover, Bilbao is the outstanding leader in container, general and liquid goods in the North Atlantic; and in the last four years has had greater growth than the average in the Spanish ports system.
To all of this must be added the firm global will to fight against the climate change which should contribute to boosting and using maritime transport as a means to reducing noxious emissions.
The Plan is based on the vision of what the Port of Bilbao wishes to continue to stand for and the values sustaining it. In this sense, it is still the port of reference in the Iberian Peninsula for Atlantic Arc traffic, responding to the logistics needs of the strategic industrial sectors in the territory, and contributing to improving their competitiveness in international trade. It sets its mission on strengthening the competitiveness of Port of Bilbao customers, and contributing to sustainable socio-economic development in its hinterland. It states its values as customer-orientation, excellence, ethics and professionalism, team work, commitment to people and social responsibility.
