Valenciaport's September boxes up 5.48%, but transshipment still drags

Valenciaport moved 498,837 TEU in September 2026, a 5.48% jump on the same month a year earlier, according to figures the Port Authority of Valencia (APV) released on October 23. Imports did the heavy lifting; transshipment kept sulking.

Total cargo throughput rose 2.05% to 6.6 million metric tons across the three-facility system of Valencia, Sagunto and Gandia. Full-container exports gained 5.68% in September, while imports surged 11.68%. Full-container transshipment slipped just 0.82% to 179,002 units — which counts as good news here, given the trend.

One solid month doesn't repair nine mediocre ones. Between January and September, the port system handled roughly 4.2 million TEU, down 0.91% year on year. Total throughput for the period came in at 59.2 million metric tons, a 2.13% decline.

What's pulling and what's dragging?

The divergence is stark. Nine-month import volumes rose 10.02% to 856,431 TEU. Exports barely moved, edging up 0.31% to 681,113 TEU. Transshipment — boxes handled in transit — fell 9.81% to 1,552,065 units, and that's the weight on the whole system.

To put it plainly: Valenciaport's own trade is growing, but the hub business that carriers route through it is shrinking. For shipping lines, that matters because it thins the feeder and relay volumes that justify call frequency. For forwarders, Spanish import flows remain the reliable lane; transshipment-dependent routings, less so.

The rolling 12-month picture is flat: 5,623,753 TEU handled, almost unchanged from the previous twelve months, with total throughput of 78.7 million metric tons, down 1.56%.

By commodity, not everything is container gloom. Solid bulk volumes rose 4.58% over the first nine months, liquid bulk gained 0.85%, and non-containerised general cargo grew 2.40%. Containerised tonnage fell 3.80% — again, the transshipment effect.

China up, the US well down

China tightened its grip as Valenciaport's biggest container market. China-linked volumes climbed 15.07% to 714,691 TEU in January–September, with tonnage up 15.75% to 7.66 million metric tons.

The United States ranked second by boxes but slid 14.71% to 246,237 TEU. Algeria followed at 225,257 TEU, down 7.22%, and Turkey fell 18.98% to 142,081 units. Mediterranean and Atlantic trades, in short, are telling very different stories in 2026.

On a tonnage basis, Italy was the second-largest international market with 4.53 million metric tons, ahead of the US at 4.38 million.

Ro-ro keeps rolling

Away from containers, freight vehicle traffic is quietly outperforming. The port processed 404,543 freight vehicles in the first nine months, up 8.77% year on year. Over the rolling twelve months, the count reached 557,091 units, a 5.92% increase.

What does this change for shippers and carriers? For now, capacity into Valencia for importers remains ample and the China lane is deepening, while carriers relying on transshipment volume will keep scrutinising their Mediterranean network math.

The September figures at least suggest the transshipment decline is moderating — a slower bleed rather than a reversal — and if import growth holds at double digits, the year-to-date deficit is small enough that a strong fourth quarter could yet erase it.