News

From 25 to 29 April, the Port Authority of Bilbao will be taking part in Expomin, one of the most important international mining exhibitions in the world, and the most important in Latin America, in Santiago de Chile. There, representatives of the Port, in collaboration with the Basque Agency for Company Development (SPRI), and the breakbulk companies with Pacific Zone-bound cargo operating in Bilbao will inform of the Port’s facilities and the maritime transport services offered by the sector – and especially those for special loads such as large pieces, machinery and containerised traffic.

In the Agrifood City of Tudela, sited in Navarre in the north-west of Spain, a 17,000-square metre multi-modal sea platform is being developed, with a view to increasing transport competitiveness in the Navarre area. Thus, exporting companies will have a competitive corridor between Navarre and the Port of Bilbao. The project will suppose a one-million euro investment.

20% increase in calls expected this season. On 5 April, P&O Carnival’s Azura will inaugurate the Port of Bilbao cruise season. This vessel, 290 metres long with a 36-metre beam, has a capacity for 3,600 passengers and 1,560 crew. It will arrive at about 8.00 hours from Corunna and will remain at Getxo until 18.00 hours, when it departs for the French port of La Rochelle.

ASK Chemicals, a company of international repute in the chemicals sector, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, has presented the project it is undertaking in the Port of Bilbao industrial zone. Here it will centralise its production due to the Port being a strategic outlet for the south-east European market.

Today in Pancorbo, the Port Authority of Bilbao has presented its operational and management model for its Railway Logistics Terminal (TELOF in Spanish) which it is developing in this town in the province of Burgos.

The Port Authority of Bilbao has put out to tender the first phase of the construction works for the new dock in the Outer Abra at a cost of 125.03 million euros (not including Value-Added Tax). The European Commission has granted aid of 23.24 million euros as part of the Connecting Europe Facility Programme (CEF) under the proposal “Future Proofing Bilbao – Core Port of The Atlantic Corridor” as it is considered to be a strategic project.

In 2015, Port of Bilbao traffic – without including local traffic or supplies- stood at 32.4 million tonnes, representing a 5.12% increase (+1.6 million tonnes). This increase in traffic, which grew for the third year running, (12.11% in the period 2013-2015), is thanks to liquid bulks (+11%), mainly as a result of the increases in petroleum, natural gas, gasoil and petrol. It was precisely this group that showed greatest accumulated losses in the 2007-2012 period as a consequence of the economic crisis.

The Autonomous Basque Government has recognised 28 Basque Organisations that have obtained the theEMAS Certificate for Environmental Performance in the Basque Community, which include the Port Authority of Bilbao. With this certificate, the Port Authority continues on track to making Bilbao a reference port as well as voluntarily integrating socially responsible policies and criteria, as established in the Port of Bilbao Strategic Plan 2013-2017.

The Port of Bilbao will again be prominent at the Fruit Logistica to be held in Berlin from 3 to 5 February. Bilbao will be presented as the best-connected Atlantic port for fruit and vegetables distribution for both the north of Europe and the Iberian Peninsula itself. In 2015, this traffic rose to 169,528 tonnes, with frozen vegetables, shipments of onions, garlic and leeks, potatoes and citrus fruits outstanding.

The Bilbao stevedoring company Consignaciones Toro y Betolaza has acquired a new Liebherr LHM 400 harbour mobile crane with a view to reinforcing its operational capacity in the Port of Bilbao. It will be mainly used for stowing and breaking iron and steel goods and for heavy loads projects.