Agency Details
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Isamar
Avda. Alameda, nº 35 bis, 4ª Izquierda
46023 Valencia
Spain
Tel: (+34) 963939716 / (+34) 963939743
Fax: (+34) 96 3939717
E-Mail: jrogel@vlc.isamar.es

Isamar
Via Layetana, 33, No 8, 2a
08003 Barcelona
Spain
Tel: (+34) 932954925
Fax: (+34) 629098137
E-Mail: maranzana@bcn.isamar.es

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OT Africa Line Service Brochure
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Port News
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Valencia Keeping Its Head - 03/06/10
One of the most telling indicators of the world economic crisis has been the decrease in international trade flows. However, against this background, Valencia Port was the only Spanish operation to record increases in container traffic in 2009, with 3.7m teu. Figures for Q1 of 2010 show a rise of 7.71% in container traffic compared with the same period last year, and an increase of 3.20% over the same period for 2009 in total goods traffic [13.8m tonnes]. However this container rise was at the expense of other transhipment ports with such an edge bein easily lost.

Nador in North Morocco, part of €354m industrial and commercial port development, is beginning to grow. As with the TangerMed facilities, Nador benefits from Morocco’s apparent attempt to corner the market by capitalising on lower handling costs as far as transhipment is concerned. This has had an impact on Valencia already, since the lines are intent on driving down stevedoring charges. However, to help Spain stay in the area and also help enable a modal shift away from Spain’s tendency to move cargo by road, Spanish port law is in the course of being modified to admit the lowering of port dues to keep the country’s transhipment traffic in the game.

Alongside this, there is the north extension of the port of Valencia, which will increase the port’s land surface area by 1.5m sq m doubling its current container handling capacity. Also Valencia isn’t as dependent on transhipment as some other western med ports, such as Algeciras, because around half of its container throughput goes to import and export gateways, with direct links to north Africa itself.

Valencia already has is a very slick system with sophisticated IT. This itself provides significant cost reductions for Valencia’s logistics community. The online transactional portal is busily eliminating paper while a new “track and trace system” gives maximum visibility for import-export containers – including rail goods traffic. In 2011 trucks and containers will automatically be identified and recorded as they go through the terminal gates. Considerable improvements have also been made in the response times for official inspection services to check containerised goods.

Further, at the end of last year a new rail link came into play, integrated with the PLAZA logistics platform in Zaragoza. This added to developments in the logistics areas for the Sagunto and Valencia terminals. But as is the case in Barcelona and Vado, intermodality and logistics are central issues – and one of the areas where Valencia hopes to keep its edge. The port is aware that one of its key objectives has to be to improve the connectivity of its hinterland in order to win traffic over from road haulage and get shipping a bigger slice of the cargo cake. In accordance with the idea of making the shippers feel more comfortable with the whole process, Valencia, like Barcelona, has put in place a “Quality Mark” which guarantees the the totality of the port’s services delivered to the logistics chain as though they were provided by just one company, and establishes the right to financial compensation should any guarantee not be complied with. [PS 03/06/10]

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]

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