Port accessThe Port of Bilbao and Mercabilbao will once again participate jointly in Fruit Attraction, the most important meeting point in the calendar for exporters and importers of fruit and vegetables, to be held from 4 to 6 October in Madrid. The idea behind the stand that the Port of Bilbao and Mercabilbao will have at Fruit Attraction is to raise the awareness of national and international operators regarding the importance of the port and market as a food hub in the north of Spain, as well as to explore new opportunities to increase their revenue streams.
With its wide range of maritime services, its intermodal services, its experience in perishable goods traffic, its refrigeration facilities and its collaboration with Mercabilbao, the Port of Bilbao handles fruit and vegetable traffic from places such as Central America, South America and South Africa, as well as from different parts of Spain, to Europe and other parts of the Iberian Peninsula. Stand-out destinations include the UK and the Republic of Ireland, with which the port is the market leader in Spanish maritime transport.
One of the port services which is used to manage traffic arising from fruit and vegetable imports and exports, and which will be showcased at Fruit Attraction, is the online platform that the Port of Bilbao has provided for its customers to speed up processes and operations. In terms of facilities, the Port of Bilbao has the busiest container terminal in the north of Spain, and, at the same time, the deepest draft. The terminal, managed by CSP Iberian Bilbao Terminal, is connected to the main ports of northern Europe, has 540 plug-in sockets for reefer containers and a system of automated access that streamlines and simplifies all operations, including those of fresh produce transporters. It also has a 550-metre, four-track rail terminal.
Furthermore, the port has ro-ro and multi-purpose terminals and warehouses for perishable goods: on the one hand, the cold terminal, Frioport, has 4,800 m² of usable space, two coldstores at -25 degrees with a total storage space of 16,300 m³ and three positive refrigeration chambers with a capacity of 7,500 m³, whilst Progeco, for its part, has two facilities for the storage and transfer of goods, providing a total of 6,000m² of positive cold storage. The company also handles storage, maintenance and repair of refrigerated containers, providing solutions 24/7 for all types of problems with both structural issues and refrigerated machinery for shipping companies and all types of customers in the sector, and thereby avoiding delays and breakages in the cold chain.
The Port of Bilbao Border Control Point, one of the most advanced amongst Spanish ports, is a high-capacity facility, operational 24 hours a day with 16 lorry loading bays and providing the following services: a Border Inspection Post (BIP), an unloading port, Designated Points of Entry (DPE), DPE/DPI (points for the control of food products from certain third countries), radioactivity monitoring, Authorised Customs Areas (ACA) and FPI (First Points of Introduction).
Mercabilbao, strategically located for product internationalisation
Mercabilbao is the largest distribution centre for perishable foodstuffs in the north of the Iberian Peninsula and the South of France. This is attributable to its strategic location, very close to the intersection of the Paris-Hendaia-Madrid axis, close to the Cantabria motorway and with a direct connection to the motorway network. These factors, together with its collaboration with the Port of Bilbao, makes it the ideal place to pursue an efficient and high quality internationalisation strategy.
In this sense, Mercabilbao provides operators in the fruit and vegetable sector with a competitive advantage in terms of resources, economics, time, available infrastructures and existing logistics warehouses. In 2021, fruit and vegetable trade in Mercabilbao exceeded 234,119 tones, a record figure in the year of its 50th anniversary.
On the other hand, its partnership with the Port of Bilbao gives the market a further competitive advantage in attracting traffic in fruit and vegetable products, enabling it to connect with other European and American markets, especially within the framework of the development of joint Euro-Region of the Basque Country-Aquitaine. Mercabilbao and the Central Market of Bordeaux collaborate closely to develop joint activities and provide a better service to the community.
