International trade in the port of Barcelona soared just before the trade war.
Trade with China grows by 26% and with the US by 8.4%.
BarcelonaDespite the trade war launched by the Trump administration, imports and exports through the Port of Barcelona soared by double digits during the first quarter of the year, the Barcelona Port Authority (APB) reported Tuesday. Thus, full export containers grew by 12.2% in the first quarter and full import containers by 21.6% compared to the same period in 2024. It should be noted that the tariffs went into effect on April 2, outside of this first quarter, but that Trump had announced them throughout January and February.
Despite the uncertainty currently dominating international trade relations, containerized exports and imports—the indicators that best reflect the state of the economy in the Port of Barcelona's area of influence—remain very dynamic, which signals the strength of the business community, the APB indicated.
By geographical area, China (+25.9%), the United States (+8.4%), Turkey (-13.7%), India (+34.9%) and South Korea (+48%) are the main origin and destination markets for containerized goods in transit.
Another traffic segment that also grew strongly in this first quarter of the year is that of bulk liquids, which rose 8.1% compared to the first quarter of the previous year. The main increases came from gasoline and natural gas, which grew 61.4% and 16.8%, respectively. The same is not true for the bulk solids group, which experienced a drop of -8.5%, with sharper declines in the traffic of potash, common salt and soybeans.
Vehicle traffic also reflects the current uncertainty of the economy and global trade. Thus, automobiles moving through the Port of Barcelona registered a decrease of -8.7%, totaling 168,545 units. The ITUs (intermodal transport units), with a decrease of -1.5%, also reflect this complex situation.
Thus, despite the improvement in import and export containers, total traffic at the Port of Barcelona during the first quarter of the year totaled 16.6 million tons, remaining very close to the figure corresponding to the first three months of 2024, but with a decrease of 1.6%.
5.3% more cruise passengers
In terms of passengers, ferries accounted for 213,695 trips (-14.1%) and cruise ships for 351,284 trips (+10%). This increase is driven by the increase in home ports and the decrease in passenger traffic, according to APB. These trips translate into 217,626 cruise passengers arriving in the city of Barcelona in the first quarter of the year, 5.35% more than in the first quarter of 2024, when the number of cruise passengers visiting the city was 206,568.
