Ports in Portugal handled more goods in November but 11M figure still down 6.4%
According to the Transport Mobility Authority (AMT), ports in mainland Portugal in November handled 0.2% more goods by weight than in the same month a year earlier.
Ports in mainland Portugal in November handled 0.2% more goods by weight than in the same month of 2019, but for the first 11 months of 2020 as a whole, they handled 6.4% less, at 75 million tonnes, according to the Transport Mobility Authority (AMT).
“Considering only the month of November alone, there was a recovery of positive year-on-year variations, registering an increase of 0.2% compared to November 2019,” the AMT said in a statement. “The overall negative performance observed in the period from January to November 2020 results mainly from the behaviour of Lisbon and Leixões.”
These ports saw year-on-year decreases for the period of 2.37 million and 2.06 million tonnes respectively, “with Aveiro also recording a significant negative performance.”
The AMT also noted that the contribution of coal, oil products and other bulk solids to the overall negative performance in the 11 months was strong, with year-on-year decreases of 2.69 million, 1.84 million and 632,500 tonnes respectively.
In the container segment, there was a “volume of around 2.57 million TEU [twenty-foot equivalent unit] in the 11 months, exceeding by +1.2% the volume accumulated in the same period of 2019,” according to the same statement.
The AMT noted that “Sines was the port that contributed the most to this positive performance in the container segment, registering an increase of 154,000 TEU (+11.7%). Setúbal and Leixões also registered increases, of 26,500 and 8,500 TEUs, respectively, with the sum of these increases more than cancelling out the decreases registered in Lisbon and Figueira da Foz.”
As regards the number of ships calling in, there was a total of 8,684 for all ports in the 11 months to November, down 11.4% on the same period in 2019, according to the authority.
It said the decline in the number of ships calling was seen in most ports, especially in Lisbon, “which shows a decrease of 848 ships”. In Lisbon “the impact of the measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic is responsible for the cancellation of about 320 calls of passenger cruise ships in the period under review.
“This same reason justifies the reduction, at least in part, in the number of calls at the ports of Leixões and Portimão, whose total drop is in the region of 122 and 71 calls respectively,” it goes on. “Only Setúbal, Faro and Figueira da Foz show positive variations in the number of calls, with an increase of 69, 15 and 10 calls respectively.”
