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Barcelona Port Authority Invests 139 Million Euros For
Infrastructure - July 2009
During 2008 the Barcelona Port Authority [APB] made total investments of €161
million, an increase of 8.8% compared with the previous year. Of this amount, €139
million was committed to infrastructure construction
works. In 2008 the APB had profits of €51 million on total revenues of €167
million, an increase of 3.7% from the year before. Operating results for 2008
were €69 million. [Port Newspaper July 2009]
Barcelona Port Vows To Drive Investment - 18/03/09
For the Port of Barcelona / Autoritat Portuaria de Barcelona [www.apb.es] 2008
saw volumes ease
significantly. In the face of the global downturn, the port authority has implemented
a number of measures to
encourage flows and, looking ahead at a recovery, has vowed to plough on with
its investment programme.
Statistics for January show overall throughput dropped 23% compared with the
same month last year, while
containers fell by nearly 26% and vehicle traffic plummeted by 78%. In the
face of this uncertainty, the port
authority has approved a series of measures to encourage activity across many
commodities and operations.
It has, for example, frozen certain port charges paid by shipowners. It has
also provided its tenants with
greater flexibility when paying their rent, allowing for monthly or quarterly
payments instead of half-yearly
transfers. Other initiatives include reviewing the criteria for discounts on
certain types of cargo, with the aim
of boosting volumes.
Amid this sobering outlook, Barcelona port authority president
Jordi Valls made it clear that the port’s
strategic plan would not be changed and that new investment in new infrastructure
was more important now
than ever before. The port’s €600m [US$774m] investment programme
through to 2011, he insisted, will
remain in place. Work on new breakwaters, a fundamental element in any plan
to expand port infrastructure,
has now been completed, providing shelter to the new installations at the southern
end of the port.
New land
is being reclaimed at the south mole, a €56m project that will add 20
ha of terminal space, while work is also
under way on the Muelle Prat, including repairs to a quay wall that collapsed
in 2007. The port even boasts a
new control tower, built at a cost of €6.7m, from which controllers monitor
all vessels moving to and from the
port, ensuring navigational safety.
Valls highlighted that, despite the present difficulties, the
port is keeping to its expansion plan, given that this
is a long-term investment project and maintain momentum with the aim of being
in a strong position when the
market recovers. [LL 18/03/09]
Rail Boost For Port Of Barcelona - France - 18/03/09
A new rail service launched last month will boost the Port of Barcelona’s
efforts to link its cargo terminals to
the heart of French markets and Europe beyond. The service offers round trips
between Barcelona and Lyon
and was launched even though rail infrastructure on the Spanish side is still
far from ideal. The Barcelona
port authority has long pushed for the construction of a European-gauge rail
link to the border with France.
Port officials see it as a vital step to enable the port to expand its sphere
of influence and deepen its
hinterland to the north.
But construction of this rail link to Perpignan, while well-advanced, is still
some years off, as are associated
investments to the rail infrastructure around the port itself. That has not
deterred the Barcelona port authority
from stimulating private-sector involvement in line with its vision of targeting
European consumers and
producers.
The new thrice-weekly Barcelyon Express is operated by Spanish
rail operator Renfe and French intermodal
company Naviland Cargo, a subsidiary of SNCF. The Barcelona port authority,
a key driver behind the
project, retains a minority stake in the business. The link is offering shippers
three multi-user trains a week in
each direction running between Barcelona’s box terminals and the rail
hub in Vennisieux, near Lyon, with
capacity for 60 teu on a convoy of 20 wagons. It is aiming for a 70% occupancy
rate and foresees the
possibility of bumping up frequency to five weekly trains if the demand is
there.
Alongside investment in rail links to France, the port itself
is investing in intra-port European-gauge spurs and
new rail terminals for its key cargo wharves. Once complete, they will be
able to handle up to 180 trains daily
and enable the port to increase the quota of freight moving by rail from
the present 4% to as high as 35%,
with the knock-on benefit of removing up to 20,000 trucks from heavily congested
roads. [LL 18/03/09]
Valencia Port Upgrade - 06/01/09
The European Investment Bank [EIB] has granted Valencia a US$450 million loan
to finance the upgrading
of its port facilities, including the building of a 3,000m breakwater to protect
future container berths and
infrastructure for a new container terminal area. The project will almost double
the container handling
capacity of the port from about 3.7 million TEUs at the four existing terminals
to 7.1 million TEUs. The first
new box quay is expected to be commissioned in 2012. [DY 06/02/09]
