Port access- Fruit Logistica to be held in Berlin 6-8 February
- Strategic location of Mercabilbao and Port of Bilbao places them in ideal position to carry out effective and quality internationalisation
The Port Authority of Bilbao and Mercabilbao will highlight their competitive advantages to attract new fruit and vegetables traffic at Fruit Logistica, the leading European fair in the sector, which will be held in Berlin 6-8 February.
The main market both entities are targeting is South and Central America, and so they will show their capacities in infrastructures and services, in re-dispatching fruit and vegetables to Europe and the rest of the Iberian Peninsula as an alternative to road transport.
In 2018, fruit and vegetables traffic in the Port of Bilbao totalled 157,000 tonnes, 16% up on the previous year. Outstanding was the traffic growth in vegetables, both fresh and frozen, onions, garlic and leeks, potatoes, lettuces and citrus fruits together with bananas.
In fact, last year shipowner Boluda Lines set up a shipping line with Santa Cruz La Palma for Canary Island bananas, which arrive in reefer containers, a transport mode in which both Boluda and the Port of Bilbao are highly specialised.
Innovation and digitalisation
The Port of Bilbao has the most important container terminal in the north of Spain and also the one with the greatest depths. The terminal, managed by Noatum Container Terminal Bilbao, has 540 plugs for reefer containers, as well as automatic access, which speeds up and simplifies all operations, including those for hauliers and fresh produce.
In addition, the Port of Bilbao has Ro-Ro and multi-purpose terminals, a storage and distribution zone, perishables warehouses, belonging to Progeco and Frioport, besides good road and rail connections.
Mercabilbao
In 2018, the Mercabilbao facilities handled 225,259 tonnes of fruit and vegetables, which was a 2.7% increase over the previous year. This, plus its nearness to the Port of Bilbao, and its strategic position, very close to the Paris-Hendaye-Madrid junction beside the Cantabria Motorway with its direct link with the Spanish motorway network, consolidate the largest wholesale food market in the north of the Iberian Peninsula as an ideal point for carrying out an efficient and quality fruit and vegetable import-export strategy.
This is a competitive advantage for operators in the fruit and vegetable sector, both from the point of view of economic and time resources and also of existing available infrastructures and logistics warehouses.
