Port of Barcelona deepens ties with India

MUMBAI : From 16 to 18 October, the Port of Barcelona, one of the key drivers of development in Spain and a reference port in the Euro-Mediterranean region, is holding a Trade Mission in Mumbai, India.

The delegation, led by a representative of the Catalan government and comprised of companies and institutions from the port and logistics sectors, is travelling with the goal of promoting trade between India and Europe and publicising the wide range of services available to Indian importers, exporters, and logistics operators at the Spanish port.

The Port of Barcelona is the country’s main port in terms of the value of goods passing through it, channelling 23% of Spain’s international marine trade. Its 100 direct services connect it to 200 ports on five continents, and it is a general cargo and high-value-added goods port. At the moment, four regular shipping services connect Mumbai and Nhava Sheva ports in India with Barcelona.

India is Port of Barcelona’s second commercial partner in Asia, with over 2.3 million tonnes of traffic per year and 131,000 TEUs.

According to a statement, new vehicles are one of the fastest-growing forms of traffic at the Port of Barcelona, which is not only expanding in terms of imports, exports, and traffic but also attracting new traffic segments such as electric vehicles.

The Port and its two specialist vehicle terminals, Autoterminal and Setram, established a mutual commitment years ago to offer unique services for this traffic, and Barcelona is now an international logistics centre for the transfer of electric vehicles.

Moreover, Barcelona is the southern gate to the European market and the distribution hub for the Mediterranean and North Africa for Indian firms. The Catalan delegation will highlight the Port of Barcelona’s outstanding maritime and land connection, which includes daily short marine shipping services to several Mediterranean locations as well as regular rail services to the rest of Spain and Europe.

According to a World Bank and S&P Global analysis, the Port of Barcelona is one of the most productive in Europe, with high-capacity interoceanic lines with America and Asia that allow it to act as an exchange hub with Central and South American markets, providing very competitive alternatives to Indian logistics operators.

This Trade Mission will ease high-level institutional contacts with the goal of improving collaboration between ports. The main act, the Business Conference “India-Spain/Catalonia: New Business Opportunities”, took place on Monday, 16 October at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai.

The technical seminars will be hosted at the Port of Mumbai, the event’s co-organizer, and will focus on current customs processes in Spain and India, innovation and smart ports, and training based on technological platforms.

According to the port’s statement, this Mission has the support of the Port of Mumbai, the Mumbai Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations in India (FFFAI), and the main industry associations. These trips, which started being held in 1998, have become an important tool in the globalization strategy of Port de Barcelona, as well as a powerful business agent of change to promote and improve the position of the port’s clients overseas.