Port Tarragona ends the 2020 financial year with positive figures

Tarragona presents better results than expected after a year of the pandemic

The Port maintains its investment strategy thanks to a substantial economic-financial solvency

Josep M Cruset expects 2021 to be a turning point for the Port of Tarragona

The Port of Tarragona president, Josep M Cruset, today presented the business results for the 2020 financial year at a press conference in Tinglado 1 on the Costa Wharf. The Port ended the 2020 financial year in the black with an end-of-year profit of 740,000 euros, in spite of a very complex year due to the negative effects on the economy of the Covid-19 pandemic, thanks to a smaller decrease in cargo traffic than initially anticipated.

During the first months of the state of alarm decreed by the Spanish government, the Port of Tarragona estimated that the effects of the pandemic would lead to decrease of up to 30% in cargo traffic. However, in the end the decrease was only 19.3%. The Port president assessed very positively the fact that "the final results were better than the initial forecasts".

Activity in the year of a pandemic

Tarragona’s port ended 2020 with an overall cargo traffic of 26.8 million tons. In terms of large traffic groups, the results were 18.3 million tons (Mt) in liquid bulks, 6.5 Mt in solid bulks, 1.5 Mt in general cargo and 0.5 Mt in other goods.

Liquid bulks registered a fall of just 13.6%, mainly concentrated in crude oil. Liquid energy products (4.6 Mt vs 4.9 Mt in 2019) and chemicals (1.46 Mt vs 1.55 Mt in 2019) maintained results similar to those of the previous year; while butane and propane registered a slight decrease (1.5 Mt vs 1.8 Mt in 2019). Other petroleum products (naphtha, other fuels, etc.) registered an increase from 2.23 Mt in 2019 to 2.73 Mt in 2020.

Solid bulk traffic fell by 33.3%, largely due to the decrease in coal and coke cargos (- 64.9%) caused by the change in the European energy strategy designed to combat climate change by reducing C02 emissions. Cereals performed well (4.6 Mt vs 5.7 Mt in 2019), despite a decrease in imports due to record 2020 harvests on the Iberian Peninsula. There was an increase in fresh fruit traffic from 149,827 tons in 2019 to 204,173 in 2020. Chemical products maintained a similar level at 220,000 tons vs 241,000 tons in 2019.

General cargo showed more positive figures thanks to a greater diversification of goods. Steel products stood at 324 thousand tons (404 thousand tons in 2019), traffic in vehicles decreased (127,000 units vs 211,000 in 2019), and container traffic remained at around 44,000 TEU. Paper pulp maintained its results (403 thousand tons vs 418 thousand tons in 2019). Livestock traffic increased over the previous year, rising from 239,000 head of cattle in 2019 to 292,000 in 2020.

Port of Tarragona had to overcome numerous difficulties during 2020: the closure of the port for a week due to Storm Gloria, the shutdown of Tarragona’s chemical industry complex due to the IQOxe accident, the Covid-19 pandemic, Repsol's month-long technical stoppage, the disappearance of coal traffic, and a record cereal harvest that slowed imports. Despite all this, Mr Cruset highlighted the Port's ability to help alleviate the effects of the pandemic with bonuses to port companies worth 3.6 million euros. The port offered reductions of 1.6 million euros on its occupancy and activity rates to reduce the effects of Covid-19 in 2020. To this we have to add the usual discounts on the merchandise and vessel rates designed to promote certain types of cargo amounting to 1.5 million euros; and Good Environmental Practice bonuses of 700,000 euros.

The Port maintains its investment ability

The Port of Tarragona ended the 2020 financial year with a total revenue of 49.4 million euros, a similar figure to 2015 and 2016. Last year's results would be even closer to 2015 or 2016 if we include in the final calculation the 1.6 million euros in discounts given to port companies to alleviate the effects of the pandemic in the port sector. That would bring it up to 51 million euros.

According to Mr Cruset, with these results "the Port maintains its economic strength and investment strategy". The 2020 EBITDA was 22.9 million euros, a figure similar to 2019. The port continues to maintain its considerable financial strength, as it ended 2020 with a cash flow of 21.32 million euros (compared to 23.9 million euros in 2019); reduced its debt from 52.1 M € to 48 M €; and achieved 97% of its planned investment budget (investments and treasury amounted to 32.8 million euros in 2020).

Mr Cruset emphasised the Port’s pivotal role in the local economy, stating that "the Port of Tarragona is an organisation with a major investment capacity able to contribute to the territory’s economic recovery". He also reviewed the current status of the strategic investments in progress. The Port’s current main investment, the Logistics Activities Zone (ZAL) with a budget of around 30 million euros, has all the administrative procedures in place for its urbanisation and it is currently drawing up the executive plan and inviting tenders for building the links with the road network. In parallel, on the marketing side, it is immersed in several implementation processes.

The Port president also announced the start of Phase 1 of work on the Guadalajara Intermodal Terminal for the month of May and reported that the execution plan for Phase 2 is currently being prepared. These two phases total an investment of 14 million euros. He also announced the entry into the final stage of the processing of the Els Prats breakwater construction project included in the Port Master Plan (65 million euros) and the completion of the work on the Balears Wharf (30 million euros) for next June, thus meeting the planned schedule despite the pandemic.

The president of the Tarragona Port Authority (TPA) also announced the completion of work on the institutional headquarters for the month of May (an investment of 5.5 million euros) and that of the new Port Museum in June (3 million euros). He also highlighted several investments that, since their implementation in 2020, have contributed to the improvement of port services: the expansion of the rail network (500,000 euros), the implementation of the fibre optic network (800,000 euros) and the Agrifood Product Delivery System (SEA) that, after 6 months of operation, has already contributed to reducing waiting times by 50 minutes, representing a saving of some 30,000 hours a month.

2021, a turning point for the Port

At the end of his presentation, Josep M Cruset stated that "2021 it will be a turning point for the Port of Tarragona", as "the future growth of the Port depends on augmenting intermodality and increasing the volume of general cargo handled”. In this respect, Mr Cruset stated that this "is a year for concretising many projects that will move from paper to reality". As examples he offered the two most recent milestones achieved by the Port Authority. The first was the entry into service in February of the new weekly ro-ro route to the port of Izmir in Turkey, a service that can currently handle up to 2,000 lorries a month and has a considerable capacity for growth if demand requires it.

The second milestone was the presentation of the memorandum of understanding with the company CTC (led by BASF) to operate the La Boella Intermodal Terminal, an infrastructure that will multiply by six the number of freight wagons handled in the Port (from the current 20,000+ to 120,000 from 2023). Work on preparing the La Boella Intermodal Terminal is scheduled to begin in June 2022, once the tender and concession phases of the infrastructure have been passed.

Mr Cruset linked these milestones to others that will coincide in time with them to affirm that "the port will be in the best conditions to grow in general cargo as of 2023". Around this date (2023) the entry into operation of the ZAL, the entry into service of the Mediterranean Corridor and the operational start-up of the Guadalajara Intermodal Terminal will coincide.

2021, a year of acceleration

The year 2021 could also see an acceleration in this strategy. The TPA president reiterated that European economic recovery and resilience funds could provide a powerful boost to the construction of the infrastructure and equipment necessary to grow the Port’s traffic.

This is the thinking behind the 'Cal·lípolis, Next Generation' project presented in coalition with Vila-seca town council and Repsol in the form of “Expressions of Interest” to the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Ecological Transition to opt for European funding of 260 million euros.

'Cal·lípolis, Next Generation' has the ability to turn the Port of Tarragona into a driver of growth, job creation and economic and social resilience in key sectors of the Camp de Tarragona area’s economy, including tourism, the chemical industry and logistics.

A port at the service of the territory

To finalise his presentation, Josep M. Cruset summarised some of the actions implemented by the Port in 2020 for the benefit of Tarragona society. He highlighted the efforts made in communications and transparency in recent months with an improved service and attention to the media, the launch of the 'Opinion Space' participatory social panel and another of an economic nature, as well as the increase in information provided through social media.

The year 2020, he continued, was also the year in which the Sustainability Plan - Agenda 2030 was approved. The plan contains 23 objectives deployed in 82 actions, all aimed at contributing to improving environmental sustainability, sustainable growth and social commitment, in line with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Some of the milestones already achieved under this plan are the recovery of the Red Natura 2000 space, the purchase of green energy, the placement of biotopes to recover marine fauna and flora, the installation of solar panels on the roof of the new Museum (in the tendering phase), the dismantling of the cement factory, etc.

Finally, the president highlighted the actions implemented by the TPA during the most serious months of the pandemic state of alarm. These include offering facilities to the health authorities, advancing payments to providers, making spaces available for recreational activities, organising online activities, a photographic exhibition on confinement, etc.

Presentation 2020  |  17th March 2021 10h | Tinglado 1 Moll de Costa