The Kings of Spain check the maintenance of the supply chain in the port of Valencia
The Kings of Spain met by videoconference with the President of the Valencia Port Authority (PAV), Aurelio Martínez Estévez, and the Head of the Cabinet of the Valencia Port Authority, Marta Villalonga. His Majesty the King also spoke on the phone with the president of the Valencian Association of Entrepreneurs (AVE), Vicente Boluda.
The President of the PAV has pointed out to the Kings Felipe and Letizia that 70% of what Spain does not produce and has to import is done through ports. These days, due to COVID19, it is observed that the critical role that they are playing in guaranteeing the essential products to supply our markets or bring these supplies to the island communities, which have experienced a spectacular growth in traffic. Their Majesties the Kings transmitted a message of encouragement to all the people who make it possible to guarantee this supply chain day after day, from the professional who unloads the cargo to the person who manages it on land.
He has also detailed to Their Highness the Kings that, behind these flows of goods, there is a whole port community – which make possible their reception and transfer to the consumption centers, stevedores, truckers, pilots, mooring lines, tugs, port police, maintenance , shipping companies, freight forwarders and customs agents, border inspection services, PAV personnel, etc., who have not stopped working 24-hour work shifts for reception and delivery services at all terminals to guarantee supply at the supply chains. All port services (stowage, towing, mooring, pilots, transport, port police, etc.) are considered essential services.
In recent weeks there has been a high increase in the traffic of cargo in the agri-food sector and hygiene products; while the traffic of the products of the industrial sectors slows down (chemical, iron and steel, wood, etc.).
Specifically, in recent weeks, food and hygiene product traffics have registered average daily growths of over 15%, with high point of over 40%. In any case, always double-digit increases with respect to the same days of the 2019 fiscal year.
The port of Valencia is the leading Spanish port in the Mediterranean in commercial traffic, mainly of containerised goods, and constitutes the main maritime gateway in terms of production and consumption of the entire Iberian Peninsula, mainly of containerised goods, thanks above all to a dynamic area of influence and an extensive network of connections with the main ports of all around the world. The 36% of the containers destined for Spanish foreign trade are operated in the port of Valencia, which manages almost 60% of the containers in the Madrid area. Its area of influence covers the 55.5% of Spanish GDP and is the leading port in Spain’s trade relations with 84 countries, among which stands out the United States (47.93% of full container traffic in Spain), China (43.06% of full container traffic in Spain) and Turkey (38.7% of full container traffic in Spain). The first three shipping companies in the world (Maersk, MSC and Cosco) have their Spanish terminal in Valencia.
