01 November 2024

Market Update | Spain Floods & Italy Port Congestion

Update 04 November 2024:

Spain – Catalonia

The situation in Spain remains precarious – warnings have gone out for large parts of Catalonia, with high risk of further flooding. The below image shows affected areas. The Barcelona ocean port was closed for the day, but has now resumed its operations: we expect congestion at the port entry points. The same holds for the airport, which was closed for several hours too.

The Valencia area is restricted to destination traffic only: the port remains operational (at 75% capacity), but key highways into the area have been cut off. Alternative routes through the city centre are causing major traffic jams. Essential goods and freight of perishable and dangerous nature are prioritized: vehicles transporting non-essential goods are only permitted between 10PM and 7AM. There’s also severe damage to the main rail connection between Valencia and Madrid, leading to a closure that will last at least two weeks – with 60% of container volume between these regions moving via train, we expect trucking capacity to be scarce. Some shipping lines have announced they will implement port omissions, to alleviate pressure on the Valencia port.
 
Our teams in Barcelona and Madrid are safe and remain operational – they are available to assist with contingency plans on existing and future shipments.

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Spain – October Floods

Severe storms and flooding have wreaked havoc in Spain, with the Valencia area being hit particularly hard. Southern Spain (with main port Algeciras) and the northeastern parts (with main port Barcelona) have also been affected, but to a lesser extent. Many of our supply chain partners in the Valencia area are non-operational, with offices, warehouses and depots inaccessible through the floods. The flooding is expected to continue to affect shipments to and from Spain. Both our Spanish branches in Barcelona and Madrid remain operational and are available to assist with contingency plans on existing and future shipments.

Italy – Port Congestion

Continuous infrastructural deficiencies on road and motorway networks in Italy, combined with construction works on the railway network and recent bad weather, have led to heavy congestion in the northern Italian ports of La Spezia and Genoa – please be advised that truckers and carriers are implementing congestion surcharges to cover waiting times and supply chain disruption. We recommend taking into account potential delays and additional costs. Our Italian branches in Milan and Verona are at your disposal to further assist and advice.