bulk liquids

63% more exports have been channelled through the Port of Barcelona during the first six months of 2014 than in the same period of 2008, prior to the economic crisis. On Friday, the President of Barcelona Port Authority, Sixte Cambra, announced that 2014 will be the year of record sums of exports and imports from the Catalan port. The Port finished the first half of 2014 with 22.5 million tons of goods transported, representing an increase of 7% compared with the same period of 2013. Cambra said that growth occurred in all cargo sections of the port, driven by foreign trade, especially exports.

Tradebe’s new terminal for petrochemical products has 29 tanks for storing bulk liquids, with a total capacity of 450,000 cubic metres. The new facility represented a €65 million investment, occupying 60,000 square metres and creating 27 direct jobs. Tradebe is one of the leading companies in industrial waste management in Spain, with a significant presence in the United States and the United Kingdom as well as having subsidiary companies in France and Turkey. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, and the Spanish Minister for Public Works, Ana Pastor, participated in the unveiling ceremony. Mas asked Pastor to prioritise “productive” investments, such as Barcelona Port’s railway connections.

The Port of Tarragona moved 33 million tonnes of goods in 2012, slowly recovering the goods volume it had before the economic crisis. However it has not yet reached the 36 million tonnes it received in 2007. Tarragona is the second largest Catalan harbour and it is the fourth port with the most activity in Spain. It mostly specialises in bulk transport of solids and liquids, mostly cereal and petrochemical products. Furthermore, last year it enlarged its chemicals dock, reclaiming 18 hectares from the sea. The companies Vopak Terquimsa and CLH have confirmed they will operate from the enlarged dock. In addition, the port wants to attract cruisers and US military ships in the years to come.

The new mooring station to load and offload oil and other bulk liquids is designed for large ships. It will be the deepest of all the Western Mediterranean, including Northern Africa. 275-metre-long ships, weighting up to 175,000 tons and with a 15-metre-deep draft will be able to dock in Barcelona. Barcelona harbour aims at consolidating its leadership among all Mediterranean harbours regarding goods transportation, bulk and by container.