The port of Algeciras handled 1 mln TEU in the first quarter of 2017, informs the Port Authority’s press service. The total throughput of Algeciras decreased by 8%, to 23.7 mln tonnes, mostly due to a 10.9% drop in general cargo which makes up over 60% of the port’s traffic (15 mln tonnes).
At the same time, liquid bulk, constituting about 30% of the port’s volume, grew by 2.7%, to 6.9 mln tonnes. Bunkering (671,000 tonnes) and dry bulk (439,137 tonnes) also decreased, by 20.7% and 15.5% respectively. The port registers a decline in metal products exports and coal imports with scrap volumes growing.
The Port Authority highlights the record number of trucks handled by Ro-Ro facilities in March – 34,148 units, bringing the quarter result up 4.4%, to 91,299 units. The total volume of Ro-Ro cargo shipped by local lines of the Strait of Gibraltar was 2.2 mln tonnes, +2.6% to Q1 2016.
The ferry lines operating in the Strait – Algeciras-Ceuta, Algeciras-Tanger Med and Tarifa-Tanger Ciudad – transported 937.388 passengers (-8.6%) and 193.458 cars (-5.9%).
The container throughput of Algeciras was down 14.2% to 998,229 TEU as compared to the first quarter of 2016. According to the Port Authority, the decrease was caused by the less number of containerships calling the port: 772 vessel calls, -13.7% or 122 calls less than last year. However, the volume of full containers handled increased: import boxes +6.1%, export boxes +2.7%.
Obviously, the dockers’ strikes that kept destabilizing the country’s port industry during March causing disruptions in its smooth operations have reflected on the first quarter results. This low performance brings Algeciras again on the second place after Valencia, which closed the quarter with 1,087,571 TEU (-5.9%), according to its press release of yesterday.