The port of Vigo has become a powerhouse in Spanish fruit imports. In recent years, this port has experienced the strongest growth in the fruit trade among all Spanish ports. The port has become a gateway to Europe for Costa Rican products, especially bananas. The growth in fruit imports has been truly spectacular. In 2019, Vigo only moved 16,625 tons of fruits and vegetables. Two years later, in 2021, that figure increased tenfold thanks to an agreement between Termavi and Del Monte.
Everything changed in January 2020, when the French shipping company CMA-CGM started making a stopover in Vigo for fruit from South America, which until then was downloaded in the port of Marin via Hamburg Süd.
In 2022, Vigo continued to grow, importing 170,000 tons of fruit in containers from Costa Rica, Brazil, and Colombia. The main fruits entering Vigo are banana, pineapple, and melon, but citrus also arrives from South Africa for the Portuguese market.
According to data from the Puertos del Estado agency, in 2021 the port system moved 12,118,989 tons of fruits, vegetables, and legumes, i.e. 0.5% and 0.7% more volume than in 2020 and 2019, respectively. Meanwhile, in the 2019-20 period, Vigo increased the volume it moved by 1,000%, and between 2020 and 2021 the volume increased another 16.4%.
Costa Rica, Brazil, and Colombia account for 151,101 of the 175,829 tons of fruit that have arrived in containers at the Guixar terminal in recent years. Costa Rica is the main source of trade accounting for 76,050 tons, i.e. nearly 50% of the total, a volume that is comprised mostly of bananas. It is followed by Brazil, with 52,060 tons, and Colombia with 23,000 tons.
In this regard, the Port Authority (APV) has given its approval to a profound internal reorganization of the Guixar terminal, justified by the expected growth in fruit traffic and the increase in the traffic of other containerized goods. Termavi, the company that manages the platform, estimates growth of at least 50% to reach about 300,000 annual deposits (it's currently at 230,000) or even more in an estimated period of ten years.
Source: atlantico.net