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Date Published: 24/11/2021

ARCHIVED - New terminal puts Cartagena port on the map

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

Cartagena’s port is hoping to compete with other major Spanish ports

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - New terminal puts Cartagena port on the map

The Escombreras port in Cartagena is minuscule compared to other Spanish ports, both in size and in container traffic, but the municipality has seized the opportunity to expand and exploit a more specific market.

The five busiest ports in Spain accounted for 90% of the total port volume in the country last year: Algeciras (65,419,527 tonnes), Valencia (63,391,454 tonnes), Barcelona (31,966,359 tonnes), Las Palmas (11,441,606 tonnes) and Bilbao (5.183.180 tonnes). Meanwhile, Cartagena handled only 703,556 tonnes of merchandise during 2020; 20.88% less than in 2019.

While port traffic seems to be declining in smaller cities like Cartagena, the three main Spanish ports (Valencia, Algeciras and Barcelona) grow each year, accounting for 76% of all traffic in 2017 and 80% in 2020.

The reasons for the dwindling exports and imports in Cartagena are related primarily to its size, as there is only room for around 100,000 containers at a time, which is huge handicap while trying to compete with some of the biggest ports in the Mediterranean.

However, there are opportunities for smaller ports if they target specialised markets. For example, ports near agricultural production centres could establish specialized reefer container routes to northern Europe for products that need to be refrigerated and which are usually transported on the road.

Cartagena is perfectly placed for these kinds of opportunities as 85% of all maritime traffic in the world travels past Cartagena port. With the new Barlomar terminal, which is being built with an 822 million-euro investment, the port will have a much bigger surface to house shipments as well as over 50 automatic cranes.

At the presentation of the new maritime terminal, the president of the port reiterated her confidence that Cartagena’s harbour can compete with other, bigger, ports and she added that the municipality’s port is one of the most sustainable in the country.

Image: Puerto de Cartagena

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