By Redacción PortalPortuario.cl
@PortalPortuario
Short Sea Shipping (TMCD) in Spain showed a recovery in volumes prior to the Covid-19 health crisis in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2019 and 2020, according to the progress of its report from the Statistical Observatory of the TMCD, which made public SPC Spain.
According to the document, the international ro-ro TMCD (excluding merchandise vehicles) registered 5.97 million tons transported in the first quarter of 2021, with an increase of 5.6% compared to the same period last year and the 4.9% compared to 2019. The facade Atlantic registered a significant increase of 11%, (11.9% compared to 2019), while this was softer in the Mediterranean with 4.8% (3.9% compared to 2019).
On the facade Atlantic the growth of traffic with France (77.4%), which is close to the 2019 figure, and with Belgium (7.0%). On the contrary, decreases of 11.0% were registered with Finland and 8.5% with UK. He also highlighted the appearance of Ireland, which promoted the implementation of direct services from the ports of Bilbao Y Santander, as a consequence of Brexit.
On the facade Mediterranean, movements with Italy grew 14.1%, recovering the figure of 2019; while traffic with Morocco presented a reduction of 2.2%. The report noted the emergence of flows with Turkey, thanks to the recent creation of a service with that country from the Port of Tarragona.
If the total TMCD is taken into account, which includes bulk and cabotage, 64 million tons were transported in the first quarter of 2021, an increase over last year of 0.3%, but not yet reaching the 2019 figures (-1.5%). The impact of the pandemic continues to be greater in cabotage operations (-11% compared to 2020) than abroad (+ 2.9%).
Finally, the TMCD of merchandise vehicles continues its downward trend in the first three months of the year, with a decrease of 7.1% compared to the same period in 2020, mainly due to the fall in landings (-19.1 %). Shipments decreased 2.4%, despite the increase in the Atlantic façade (2.3%), weighed down by the results in the Mediterranean façade (-8.2%).
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