Extraordinary momentum at the Port of Barcelona. The alarmist rhetoric of the Spanish government, which has spoken of a supposed economic impact from the independence process, is refuted by the data from the port's last trimester.
This summer has been the most positive in its history, with growth of 36.8% in container movements and 31.2% in total traffic, an acceleration in the growth rate, according to a statement by port authorities.
In terms of containers, which have seen very high rates of growth, both in terms of arrivals and departures, transfer operations stand out, that is, containers which are unloaded and then loaded again. Such operations grew 129.8%. They are very positively evaluated by the port's management because they mean a consolidation of the facility as a hub.
International business has maintained the good rhythm it has had recently. Increases were seen in both exports (3.5%) and imports (9.3%), maintaining the positive trade balance. 523,336 containers were exported, whilst 434,146 were imported.
Labels, left-to-right: Imports, Exports, Trade balance. Y-axis is number of containers.
Boost from Asian markets
The most active markets since the start of the year are the dynamic Asian countries. Leading in terms of growth in trade exchanged are China at 9.6%, United Arab Emirates at 11.3%, South Korea at 14.2%, India at 13%, Japan at 10% and Vietnam at 6,2%.
Labels, top-to-bottom: South Korea, India, UAE, Japan, China, Vietnam. X-axis is percentage growth.
In terms of passenger movement, in the first nine months of the year, the Port of Barcelona has received more than 3.2 million passengers, whether through regular ferry routes or from cruises, a growth of 2.7%.