The Spanish Government yesterday ignited the northern expansion of the Port of Valencia by authorizing the construction project of the new container terminal, the first phase of which could be operational within five years and will be operated by the MSC shipping company. , The race of large construction companies that have established a temporary joint venture (UTE) to bid for the construction of this huge infrastructure is starting.
The Council of Ministers, under the chairmanship of vice-president Yolanda Díaz, gave the green light to the Port Authority of Valencia (APV) to put the future construction works out to tender, despite the opposition of Sumar representatives. The pier where New Won docks with a surface area of 136 hectares and a capacity to accommodate 5 million containers. So, a few minutes after it was approved by the Government, APV chairman Mar Chao announced that an extraordinary board meeting will be held this Friday, and there will be only one point on the agenda: the approval of the tender specifications. The new terminal located in the northern extension of the Port of Valencia.
Valenciaport president commented, “We can say that today (yesterday) is a historic day for the Port Authority.” PAV leader Chao thanked “the efforts of everyone who made this possible: the Ministry of Transport, the Generalitat and the City Council, as well as all my predecessors at the port.”
northern extension
The tender, with an estimated value of 656.7 million Euros (excluding VAT) for the container dock construction work in the northern terminal of the Port of Valencia, will arouse the interest of major port construction companies. Dragados, (ACV group), Flota Proyectos Singulares (FPS), Cyes, Sedesa Obras and Services, Somague Engenharia and Sacyr.
The government’s action, announced last Thursday by Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility Óscar Puente, “represents an increase in the construction of this new terminal, designed under strict criteria regarding respect for the environment and combined with the aim of diverting traffic from containers to the train route,” the central government said yesterday in his statement.
The new container terminal will be fully electric and run on energy from 100% renewable sources. Likewise, it will have a fully automated warehouse area and an adjacent 1,000-meter-long 6-line railway terminal, which will be the largest in Spain, which will increase the use of the railway for freight traffic. Operators will have a new, innovative, flexible and sustainable public container terminal that will allow the operation of state-of-the-art vessels (Megamax container ships up to 430 meters long).
It will also help the port, currently operating “close to saturation point”, respond to growth in activity and continue to be the reference infrastructure for global container traffic.
Through this contract, the Valencia Port Authority will be responsible for the construction of the basic infrastructure (dredging, quay and consolidated embankment), while the TIL company, which is part of the MSC shipping company, will invest in the superstructure, facilities and rolling stock. The port’s northern expansion will feature a network of loading and unloading lines that will become the largest rail terminal ever built in a Spanish port, quadrupling its current capacity.
truck access
The Valencian Federation of Transport and Logistics Entrepreneurs (FVET) applauded yesterday the approval by the Council of Ministers of the new northern terminal for the Port of Valencia. However, he requested that the truck be “kept in mind” in this project and that access to the truck be provided for road traffic as well.
In its statement, the Federation reminds that, according to the latest Official Statistical Bulletin of the Valencian Port Authority, the truck is a “key piece” in the Port of Valencia, as it carries 93% of the goods entering or leaving this infrastructure.
“Just as a Port of Valencia cannot be understood without its northern terminal, it is also incomprehensible that such a residential area has no northern access to road traffic,” said FVET president Carlos Prades.
Attacks in the Red Sea push gas and oil prices
Attacks on cargo and fuel ships in the Red Sea put pressure on gas and oil prices. Fuel prices have soared in the futures market as tensions escalate due to attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen, backed by Iran, against Israel as a sign of their support for Hamas. Energy company BP suspended the sailings of oil tankers, which had a direct impact on gas and oil costs. Controlling gas prices is vital for tile and textile companies and families in the Valencian Community. In addition, since 20% of the electricity in combined cycle power plants is produced by burning fuel, the cost of gas is directly linked to electricity.
The Red Sea is a key hub for the transportation of oil and liquefied natural gas from Arab countries to Spain. 8% of the world’s seaborne gas and 12% of the oil passes through the Red Sea. This situation also affects container and bulk cargo transportation. The world’s four largest shipping companies (Swiss MSC, Danish Maersk, French CMA and Chilean-German Hapag-Lloyd) also announced the suspension of their routes in the Red Sea. These four companies hold 40% of the global market share. Crossing the Red Sea and crossing the Suez Canal significantly reduces travel time between Europe and South Asia. Some routes are being shortened by more than 8,000 kilometers to avoid having to go around the whole of Africa via the Cape of Good Hope.
Since the beginning of the conflict between Hamas and Israel, Yemeni Houthi rebels have shown their support for the Palestinians by attacking cargo ships. Faced with increasing insecurity, shipping companies are diverting their ship traffic to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. The company said in a statement: “Having followed the developments closely and collecting all available intelligence, Maersk has decided that all ships previously stopped due to transit through the region will now be directed to the African perimeter for security reasons.” said.