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Malaga
Tuesday, 13 August 2024, 18:59
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The Port of Malaga, whose clear commitment is to diversify the business and sources of income (cruise ships, megayachts, cargo, the Muelle Uno retail and hospitality area - amongst other things) is living on a rollercoaster from a commercial point of view. In the last quarter of last year it was leading the nationwide fall in inbound and outbound goods due to the stoppage of the port's container traffic, and now, in the first six months of this year, it is the main beneficiary in Spain of the geopolitical crisis in the Red Sea-Suez Canal. The year-on-year increase is no less than 90%, according to data from Puertos del Estado (Spain's national ports authority).
There is no similar scenario in the whole country. In fact, the next best growth rates are way behind Malaga: Marín, in Pontevedra (19% year-on-year increase), Tenerife (13.2%) and Barcelona (10%).
The context is clear. According to the Elcano Royal Institute (Spain's leading independent think tank): "The maritime insecurity in the Red Sea caused by the Houthi rebel movement will continue to put a strain on shipping logistics, but its effects on oil and natural gas markets appear limited for the time being".
90%
upswing in the market has made Malaga really stand out at the end of the first half of 2024 compared to 2023.
The Red Sea area is under a lot of pressure. This is significant because more than 12% of world trade passes through these waters. Hydrocarbons are particularly affected due to attacks on ships by Yemeni Houthi militias in response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Many shipping lines have ruled out the possibility of using the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait (also known as the Gate of Grief or the Gate of Tears) to the west of the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen) and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. Companies are looking for safer routes for their Western Mediterranean freight.
This has many ramifications across the board. For example, this ongoing crisis delayed the delivery of the components for the first phase of expansion work on Marbella's desalination plant.
It is not the only milestone: the agreement with the major container operator MSC Cargo, whose departure from Malaga at the end of 2022 had been the cause of the previous big fall in traffic (and business), has also acted as a major lever in this recovery. The shipping giant MSC has taken up container liner shipping again. In terms of containers in transit, there are also major Spanish hubs in Valencia, Algeciras and Tangiers.
2.2
million tonnes of goods moved, half of them containers.
Malaga is certainly the great beneficiary at a national level, which demonstrates for the umpteenth time the importance of being international in the context of a globalised world, and the port's management team are reading the signs well. Specifically, Malaga port handled 2.2 million tonnes of cargo during the first half of 2024. This increase is not a new phenomenon, given that similar had already happened in 2021 and 2022 before MSC's pull-out.
The positive evolution of container traffic to Malaga, which exceeded one million tonnes - an increase of 613% - was a boost to the total port activity between January and June this year.
Imports of new vehicles were also notable in the first half of the year with more than 50,000 units moved, an increase of 68.2% over the same period last year.
613%
container traffic has soared following the agreement with MSC Cargo.
The performance of liquid bulk, mainly oils, also gained importance, with 70,348 tonnes being moved, an increase of 67.2%.
Solid goods transported in bulk steadied off from January to June, slightly increasing their activity by 10.9%, with a movement of 722,076 tonnes. Agri-food products continue to be the most important, especially cereals and grain flour. In addition, mention should also be made of the movement of cement and clinker (a mix of limestone and other materials used to make such as Portland cement), which increased by 21.9%.
The environmental checking process for the future Quay 8 in the city has come to an end. It has taken more than a year instead of three months, but at last the Spain's Ministry of Ecological Transition has sent the go-ahead to the Official State Gazette (BOE) for publication. No further environmental assessment is required and the project can continue its course, as published on 8 August. The creation of this quay will make it possible for Malaga to receive 91% of the world's mega ships carrying freight, especially large bulk carriers, which will improve operational capacity in this regard by more than 31%.
The project, which opens access to large cargo ships of more than 50,000 tonnes, will allow Malaga to remain competitive in a maritime freight market that is becoming increasingly larger every day. Not having such infrastructure in place would mean a strong risk of being left out of the main shipping routes.
It is a dock that will reinforce the activity of Quay 9 for containers. Also, according to the environmental project drawn up by the Amper Proes Group and Estudio 7, the improvements will mean the port can serve 4,714 of the world's current bulk carriers. At the moment, due to technical peculiarities, only 3,098 of such ships can be handled at Malaga. The aim is to achieve a dredging level of 15.6 metres, which would allow ships with a plimsoll line of up to 13.5 metres to operate. To achieve this, 200,000 cubic metres of sand will have to be extracted from the seabed inside the port. This is the alternative analysed as being the most viable.
Quay 8 will be a new area covering more than 5 hectares. All the work will be carried out entirely within the port area and the only local impact identified will occur during the construction process.
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