Port accessBetween January and September the traffic of the Port of Bilbao reached 22.7 million tonnes, 1.4% up on the same period last year, which in absolute terms signifies an increase of 310,170 tonnes. This figure confirms the change in trend begun last year after five years seeing an average cumulative decline of 5%.
Dry cargo –including container traffic, conventional general cargo and dry bulk, and is the one with the highest added value– rose 4%. What stands out here is the growth in general cargo, both containerised (+4%) and non-containerised (+15%). Dry bulk increased 2%.
The only traffic that fell slightly (-1%) was that of liquid bulk cargo, mainly due to the fall in the consumption of natural gas.
The drive of exports
The growth in the different kinds of traffic of the Port of Bilbao is linked to the increase in exports through its facilities, which between January and September saw a 5% increase with respect to the same period last year. Imports remained at levels similar to those of last year.
The exports that grew the most were cement and clinker, gasoil, petroleum coke, iron and steel products and other petroleum products. The imports on the up were crude oil, iron and steel products, gasoil, oils, metallurgical products and food products.
In terms of markets, the countries of Atlantic Europe continue to corner nearly half the traffic, despite falling 2%. The increases came from Central America and the Caribbean (+46%) and Asia-Pacific (+22%).
