Up to November, the major Spanish ports handled 486.3 million tons of cargo, marking a 3.0% decrease compared to the same period last year and a slight regression to the levels of 2021 (-0.1%). However, this figure remained above the levels recorded in the first eleven months of 2023.
Regarding the types of cargo, conventional general cargo was the only category that did not experience a decrease, remaining stable with a slight increase of 1.6% and reaching 77.8 million tons. Containerized goods totaled 164.1 million tons, 5.3% less than in 2023, but showing a smaller cumulative decrease rate than the rest of the year. Solid bulk cargo reached 83.7 million tons (-2.3%), and liquid bulk reached 160.7 million tons (-2.9%).
Between January and November, 36.8 million passengers were transported (+19.6%). Cruise passengers saw a significant increase of 49.7% (11.3 million passengers), while regular line passengers increased by 9.8% (25.5 million). Ro-ro traffic, with 66.6 million tons, recorded a slight increase of 1.5% compared to last year.
Foreign maritime trade (imports + exports) totaled 258.1 million tons of cargo, 3.5% less than in 2022 and 0.8% less than in 2021. Imports, which accounted for 70% of the total (179.4 million tons), decreased mainly due to a 6.5% drop in solid bulk and 3.2% in liquid bulk, despite a 2.5% increase in general cargo. Exports, constituting the remaining 30% of foreign trade (78.6 million tons), were affected by a generalized decrease in all categories, most notably in general cargo (-18.0%) and slightly less in solid and liquid bulk cargoes, with decreases of 6.4% and 4.0% respectively.