Piraeus lower, other Cosco European terminals higher

The other European terminals of Cosco Shipping Ports are picking up speed compared to the two piers in the port of Piraeus managed by SEP, a subsidiary of Cosco Shipping Ports.

According to the data of the first five months of this year, published by Cosco Shipping Ports, the two PCT piers may be in the first place of the moving cargoes compared to the other terminals of the Chinese company in Europe, but they show a decrease in the moving cargo while the rest record impressive performance.

In particular, in the first five months of 2021 the two piers of the port of Piraeus handled 1,974.7 thousand Teu (showing a decrease of -3% compared to the same period of 2020 (2,035.5 thousand Teu). Also in May 2021 SEP moved 416.5 thousand Teu compared to 426.7 thousand Teu in the same month of 2020 (-2.4%).

Valencia, the second largest Chinese terminal in Europe, handled 1,471.7 thousand Teu in the first five months of 2021, compared to 1,331.2 thousand Teu in the same period last year, an increase of 10.6%.

In May, Cosco in Valencia traded 307.9 thousand teu compared to 249 thousand teu last year (+ 23.6%).

Also the terminal in Antwerp recorded an increase of 8.3% in the five months to 851.7 thousand Teu, in Rotterdam the traffic through the facilities of Cosco Shipping Ports increased by 13.5% to 973.6 thousand Teu and at the Reefer Terminal in Genoa the increase was 26.4% to 23.4 thousand Teu.

According to experts in the port industry, the results of the PCT are satisfactory given the turmoil that has been caused in the international shipping chain (port congestion, excessive increase in empty containers) which has led to a large increase in fares. The  motto the farther the better seems to be followed by some shipping companies as it brings them higher revenues, making them prefer longer routes.