The Spanish north-western port of Ferrol San Cibrao is having to face up to a future that no longer includes its most important traffic: coal, which is gradually being phased out by electricity generators. However, this has been accounted for in the port’s business plan, which envisages total tonnage of around nine million tonnes being handled in 2025. This will then increase to 12,272,000 tonnes in 2026, and 12,435,000 tonnes and 13,196,000 tonnes in 2027 and 2028 respectively.
Overall, in 2024, dry bulk at Ferrol San Cibrao performed well. In 2023, this sector had accounted for 3.8 million tonnes, although the figure last year had declined by just 100,000 tonnes, despite a downturn in coal traffic.
There are also uncertainties surrounding aluminium producer Alcoa, which has a plant at San Cibrao that was responsible for traffic of around 3.1 million tonnes in 2024, far from the highs of around 5.7 million tonnes recorded in previous years.
In order to recover from the loss of coal traffic, a series of measures is to be implemented, the first of which is the linking of the inner and outer harbours by rail, with upgrades also undertaken on all existing track. Rail will allow new commodities, such as liquid bulk and containers, to be targeted.