The freight traffic through the general interest ports of Spain starts 2025 with 43 million tons

FP 28 Feb 2025 ·13:21

2 min read

The freight traffic through the general interest ports starts 2025 with 43 million tons

TEUs at the general interest ports increased by 2.9% in January, with a 10.5% rise in import-export.

The general interest ports moved 43 million tons in January 2025, marking a 6.4% decrease compared to the same month in 2024. After a provisional closure of 2024 with 557.7 million tons (+2.7% compared to 2023), this year has started with some weakness, partly due to the storms that affected the Spanish coasts during January, causing temporary closures of some terminals and preventing ships from accessing.

General cargo recorded a 1.7% increase in the first month of the year, reaching 21.7 million tons, with a strong boost of 3% in conventional cargo—above the 2.1% increase seen in 2024—and a more moderate increase in containerized cargo, +1.2%.

TEUs recorded a 2.9% increase in January, reaching 1.4 million tons, with an apparent shift in the trend of TEUs in transit. After a 15.1% increase in 2024, the year begins with a 2.3% decline in this category, but a 10.5% increase in import-export.

Solid bulk cargo deepened the downward trend already seen in 2024 (-6.4%), with an 18.3% drop, down to 6.18 million tons, weighed down by the decrease in cereals (-41.9%) and coal (-29.7%).

Liquid bulk cargo also fell by 10.8%, reaching 14 million tons, due to the decline in oil and its derivatives traffic.

Ro-ro traffic grew by 4.2%, reaching 5.9 million tons.

The number of merchant ships in Spanish ports decreased by 2.2% in January 2025, with a total of 12,197 units, and the gross tonnage decreased by 3.1%.

Passenger traffic started 2025 with a 10.4% increase, reaching 2.4 million passengers.