The Port of Barcelona consolidates its growth and exceeds pre-pandemic figures

Catalan Economy

17 May 2021

The Port of Barcelona continues to show clear signs of commercial recovery, reaching between January and April this year figures equal to or higher than the first four months of 2019.

From January to April, the container traffic of the Port of Barcelona was 1,223,614 TEU, which represents an increase of 29.5% over the same period last year, consolidating the upward trend started at the end of last year.

This positive trend is also seen in total traffic, which added up to 21,908,203 tons, a figure that represents an increase of 12.1%. The good performance of foreign trade stands out, and especially the export containers, which rose by 18.3% during the first quarter of the year.

Containers in transit also increased, up 56.7% compared to the same period in 2020. Container traffic during the first four months of this year has exceeded by 8.5% the traffic reached between January and April of 2019, meaning a great improvement over the pre-pandemic figures.

Total traffic is also on track to reach pre-COVID-19 pandemic results, as it is only 1.1% below January-April two years ago. By type of merchandise, the good results of the livestock and food sector stand out, with a growth of 19.6%, thanks to the rise in traffic of fruits, vegetables and legumes (61.9%) and other food products (35.4%) such as meat.

By country, China and the Far East remain the main source and destination of trade through the Port of Barcelona, ​​followed by the countries of North Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Vehicle traffic shows positive figures after a long time: during the first four months of the year, 181,886 cars were transported, which is 4.8% more than in the same period last year.

Source: Port of Barcelona

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