Fruit-and vegetable-producing countries convey interest in visiting Port of Bilbao and Mercabilbao

The Port Authority of Bilbao and Mercabilbao met representatives of one African and seven South American embassies at a meeting organised by the General Secretariat for Overseas Actions at its Madrid Delegation, in order to attract more import flows of agri-food produce from South America and Africa. At the meeting – attended by representatives of Peru, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and South Africa- fruit-producing/marketing companies conveyed their interest in visiting the Port of Bilbao and the Mercabilbao facilities when they come to Madrid for the Fruit Attraction Fair to be held from 18-20 October. During the visit, a work session will be organised with the main importing and exporting fruit companies in Bilbao and its hinterland.

At the meeting, Mercabilbao’s potential as a fruit and vegetables marketing centre for the north of Spain and the south of France was presented on the one hand, as were the competitive advantages of the Port of Bilbao as the entry for imports to Spain and countries of the north of Europe on the other.

Cooperation agreements

The Port of Bilbao is the fourth most important port in Spain with 31.9 million tonnes of total traffic, 6.3 million of which were transported by container. In recent years, the Port has made a strong commitment to increasing fruit and vegetables entry and exit flows. In this respect, there has been close collaboration with Mercabilbao, the largest perishables distribution centre in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, to take advantage of synergies with a view to attracting new shippers and new shipping lines. Last year, horticultural products traffic in the Port of Bilbao grew 17%, while Mercabilbao commercialised over 217 million kilos of fruit, vegetables and legumes.