Traffic evolution (I_10)
The evolution over the last three years of the total tonnes moved in the Huelva Port, as well as the tonnes moved by generic groups of goods and the percentage of each of these groups over the total, is as follows:
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnes moved | 30,685,994 | 32,145,663 | 30,085,963 |
| Developments | 2.56% | 4.86% | -6.41% |
| Liquid bulk | 24,181,628 | 24,871,239 | 22,655,157 |
| Liquids as a percentage of the total | 78.80% | 77.37% | 75.30% |
| Solid bulk | 5,029,739 | 5,711,606 | 5,671,421 |
| Representation of solids in the total | 16.39% | 17.77% | 18.85% |
| General Merchandise | 1,190,359 | 1,296,694 | 1,459,115 |
| Overall representation of the total | 3.88% | 4.03% | 4.85% |
| Others (fishing, victualling and inland traffic) | 284,268 | 266,124 | 300,269 |
| Representation others/total | 0.93% | 0.83% | 0.99% |
The Huelva Port closed the financial year 2023 with a total port traffic volume of 30.08 million tonnes, which represents a decrease of 6.41% with respect to the traffic of 2022.
The preponderance of bulk cargo remains the Huelva Port’s traditional area of specialisation, although the continued strategy of diversification to other business segments is allowing its positioning to move closer to that of a global port with an increase in the participation of general cargo in all its presentations, including conventional, containerised and roll-on/roll-off.
A total of 5.7 million tonnes of bulk solids traffic was handled, a slight decrease of 0.7% compared to the previous year. Mineral concentrates, associated with the traditional copper manufacturing activity based in Huelva, although with a lower volume than in 2022, exceeded 2.1 million tonnes in 2023, which represented 38% of the total of this type of bulk. Most of these concentrates are made up of batches of copper and zinc ores moved by companies such as Impala and Atlantic Copper. On the other hand, the traffic of cereals, animal feed and fodder transited through the Huelva docks during 2023 has exceeded 2 million tonnes, this being the merchandise, together with natural and artificial fertilisers, which have shown the greatest growth compared to the previous year, accumulating in both cases increases of more than 40%.
Liquid bulk traffic has barely exceeded 22.6 million tonnes, and has been the main cause of the significant decline in total volume in 2023. The extraordinarily high volumes of crude oil and natural gas moved during the past financial year 2022 could not be maintained in 2023. As a result of the geopolitical instability caused by the war in Ukraine, both the CEPSA La Rábida refinery facilities and the ENAGÁS logistics terminal in Huelva saw unusual crude oil and gas storage in 2022. As a result, CEPSA’s refinery ended the 2023 financial year with 8.4 million tonnes of oil unloaded through its monobuoy, a far cry from the 9.5 million in 2022, with an accumulated drop of more than 11.4%.
The upward trend in LNG was broken and in 2023 it returned to lower volumes more in line with real energy demand in the environment after the declaration of war between Russia and Ukraine. Although the Huelva docks continue to be a strategic point for unloading Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), a total of 3.1 million tonnes were moved in 2023, which meant a decrease of around 31.3%.
However, the evolution of general merchandise during 2023 is very positive in all its aspects with an average growth of 12.5%, with steel products standing out with an increase of 23.0% compared to 2022.
Container traffic continued to grow in 2023. With a total of 88,802 TEUs handled; the growth of this traffic compared to 2022 stands at 9.17%.
As regards ro-ro traffic, a total of 34,078 UTIs were operated in 2023 thanks to the excellent connectivity offered by Ruta1400 Huelva – Canary Islands, a route which, in ro-ro cargo, is operated by the shipping companies Balearia & Fred-Olsen Express and Armas – Trasmediterránea.
The Huelva Port occupies a prominent position in the Spanish Port System in terms of connectivity with the Canary Islands, with five weekly connections.
According to these data, the Huelva Port’s commitment to the diversification of its activity as an intermodal and logistics port is bearing fruit with the growth of conventional general cargo, roll-on/roll-off and containerised cargo, concentrated in the intermodal platform of the South Wharf. To support this purpose, the recent launch in summer of 2023, of the Huelva-Casablanca-Spanish Mediterranean connection should be mentioned, as should the regular maritime connections between Huelva and northern Europe (United Kingdom, Holland and Germany).
With a total of 88,802 TEUs moved, the growth in container traffic compared to 2022 stands at 9.17%.
The Spanish Port System, made up of 28 Port Authorities, closed the year 2023 with an average decrease in goods of -3.3% compared to 2022. With this, Huelva’s dock is once again in seventh place in the national ranking according to total traffic. However, in terms of liquid bulk traffic, and although the system shows a smaller average decrease (-3.7%), compared to the -8.91% drop of the Huelva Port, the latter maintains its position in the table, retaining third place in volume of liquids, only surpassed by the Port of Algeciras and the Port of Cartagena.
Scheduled passenger traffic with the Canary Islands fell slightly (-1.20%), although it is the only item to have dropped in the traffic with the Canary Islands. With a total of five weekly departures, four roro-ropax and one container, Route 1400 Huelva Canarias has experienced a significant increase in the movement of goods vehicles with a 22% increase and in Intermodal Transport Units (ITU’s), with more than 34,000 units moved and an increase of 13.14%.
Hinterland and foreland. Main origins and destinations of goods (I_11)
The foreland, or set of areas from to which imports are brought attracted and from which exports are distributed in the Huelva Port, is notable for its scope, given the countries of origin of the goods necessary for industry.
The import and export foreland is shown below, with the main origins and destinations of the goods.
| Import Foreland 2023 | |
|---|---|
| USA | 3,992,955 |
| Nigeria | 3,410,914 |
| Mexico | 1,195,710 |
| Spain | 1,184,661 |
| Ukraine | 752,614 |
| Indonesia | 673,854 |
| Brazil | 668,004 |
| Angola | 647,005 |
| Russia | 607,421 |
| Algeria | 549,616 |
| Iraq | 528,870 |
| Turkey | 443,960 |
| Italy | 378,568 |
| Malaysia | 298,421 |
| Peru | 294,052 |
| Export Foreland 2023 | |
|---|---|
| Spain | 4,004,013 |
| USA | 1,377,416 |
| China | 763,450 |
| Portugal | 728,857 |
| Morocco | 544,651 |
| Italy | 532,067 |
| France | 458,531 |
| Brazil | 373,438 |
| Belgium | 351,817 |
| Holland | 241,410 |
| Chile | 193,691 |
| Greece | 183,268 |
| United Kingdom | 168,930 |
| Sweden | 131,545 |
| Finland | 112,447 |
Turnover invoiced to top five customers (I_12)
Out of a total invoiced in 2023 of 46,232,675.18 euros, the amounts invoiced to the five main customers amount to 21,492,937.77 euros, 46.49% of the total.
| Invoiced amount | % invoiced/total | |
|---|---|---|
| Total turnover | 46,232,675.18 | |
| Top five customers | 21,492,937.77 | 46.49 |
The top five customers are:
| Company | Invoiced amount | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Company. Española de Petróleos S.A. CEPSA | 8,479,079 | 18.34% |
| Enagás Transporte S.A.U. | 5,023,146 | 10.86% |
| Ership S.A.U. | 3,453,389 | 7.47% |
| Atlantic Copper S.L.U. | 2,341,977 | 5.07% |
| Bergé Marítima S.L. | 2,195,346 | 4.75% |
Main sectors in economic development that rely on the port for their development (I_13)
The main sectors in which the companies of the Port Community develop their activity are:
Industrial sector
a) Energy: Cepsa refinery, Enagás regasification plant, Magnon biomass plant, biofuel plants such as Bio-oils and Gunvor, etc.
b) Metallurgical: copper cathodes leave the Ingeniero Juan Gonzalo Wharf from the Atlantic Copper smelter.
c) Chemical: with plants such as those of Cepsa Química, Fertiberia, Venator, Fertinagro, Electro Química Onubense, etc.
d) Mining: minerals enter the Ingeniero Juan Gonzalo Wharf, mainly copper concentrate for Atlantic Copper.
Logistics sector
a) Hydrocarbons: Decal España, Exolum, Repsol.
b) Minerals: Impala Terminals.
c) Regular maritime lines with Northern Europe, the Canary Islands, Morocco and the Spanish Levante: CMA-CGM, Naviera Armas-Trasmediterránea, Alisios Shipping, Balearia&FredOlsen and CMI. A new regular maritime container service was launched in 2023, connecting the Huelva Port with Casablanca and the Spanish Mediterranean, connected through the Port of Barcelona with transoceanic destinations.
Fishing sector
With a market for first sales and a wholesale market.
Cruise tourism sector
Cruise tourism was reactivated, and in 2023 there were 18 cruises, 15 of which were small stopovers at the Muelle de Levante and 3 for inland passage.
Cruise tourism has been reactivated, so in 2023 18 cruises were made, with 15 small stops at the Levante Pier.
The other activity was related to commercial and port activities and services, such as: container terminals, shipping companies, stevedoring and unstowage, customs agencies, shipping agents, freight forwarders, bunkering, provisioning, supply, ship repairs, storage, etc.
