Oil and cereals drive the port of Tarragona

2023-06-13 23:59:28

TarragonaThe port of Tarragona has two very powerful clients that make it powerful: the Tarragona industrial complex and the companies that manufacture animal feed. The first, led by Repsol, need the port to bring in the oil through pipes that go directly to the refinery in the North Polygon, where they will end up transforming it into gasoline and diesel, among other derivatives. They also use the port to stock up on naphtha, a basic raw material to run the craker, from which other products such as ethylene or propylene, which are essential for the territory’s chemical industry, will later come out. Most of the products or components that are made in this whole process no longer leave by sea, but do so by trucks or through other pipelines.

Its business volume is very high: during 2022, 17.66 million tons of bulk liquids (crude oil and other petroleum products) passed through the port, a very high figure but which, in reality, is 16.4% lower to that of 2021. The reason for this decline was the suspension of Repsol’s petrochemical activity, for almost two months, due to the maintenance work that must be carried out regularly. Since the resumption of activity, the figures have recovered, as the petrochemical industry is again operating at full capacity.

The maritime traffic of the port of Tarragona

In tonnes of goods by type and percentage change between 2020 and 2022

Content and other media

Crude oil, other petroleum products, chemicals, etc.

Cereals, feed, flour, coal, etc.

Crude oil, other petroleum products, chemicals, etc.

Cereals, feed, flour, coal, etc.

Content and other media

Crude oil, other petroleum products, chemicals, etc.

Cereals, feed, flour, coal, etc.

Content and other media

The other major client of the Port of Tarragona, the cereal sector, has grown like never before and has helped to disguise the drop in imports caused by the Repsol stoppage. The extreme drought has caused the wheat harvest in Spain and France to be terrible and it has been necessary to look for it abroad, mainly in Ukraine, where a corridor has already been opened so that the war with Russia does not prevent exports. And the port of entry for a large part of these cereals has been the port of Tarragona. In their facilities there are giant warehouses that can store the grains until the feed manufacturers come to get them and then turn them into animal feed, which they will sell to the farmers.

“Food enters the port of Tarragona to feed 15 million animals”, explains the president of the Association of Catalan Compound Food Manufacturers, Pere Borrell. And the fact is that through the port comes the cereals to feed the livestock of Catalonia, Aragon, La Rioja, Castile and Navarre. In 2022, the port broke its record in cereal imports, with 5.95 million tons. All these data could still be more spectacular, but the pulse with the stevedores is complicating the unloading of the ships that arrive at the port loaded with cereals. “This year there should be 1.5 tons more than last year,” says Borrell, who regrets that the lack of staff at the port is complicating the supply of this raw material.

These two big customers helped the port close 2022 with revenues of €64 million, up 20% from 2021.

Pending subjects

In addition to solving this labor problem, the port has other business opportunities that can further strengthen it, such as attracting more cruise ships. This same week, work has begun to build the Moll de Balears, the new cruise terminal. The future Mediterranean Rail Corridor can also greatly enhance the port of Tarragona, as it will connect the port infrastructure with the heart of Europe. In this field, the claimed rail highway would also be very beneficial, allowing semi-trailers arriving by boat to be unloaded and loaded directly onto trains. Another project is the dry dock that is promoting the port in Guadalajara-Marchamalo, with 150,000 m². It is a logistics and services platform in the area of ​​influence of Madrid between Guadalajara and Marchamalo that will allow the connection of the port of Tarragona with the main maritime ports. It could go into operation next year. Finally, in May it was announced that the future headquarters of the Hidrogen Valley of Catalonia will be located in the port of Tarragona, which represents a new opportunity for growth.