Port of Tarragona Grows 6.3%, Nears 23 Million Tonnes in Nine Months

The Port of Tarragona handled 2,835,234 tonnes of maritime traffic in September 2026, up 6.3% from the same month a year earlier and its best figure for a September since 2017. With this result, the port has now posted nine consecutive months above 2025 figures, bringing cumulative volume to 22.9 million tonnes by the end of the third quarter, also up 6.3% year-on-year. The growth is mainly explained by the strength of crude oil, the cereal harvest, and the growing weight of chemical products and biofuels.

Liquid bulk accounted for 64.8% of the port's cumulative traffic. In September it totalled 1.74 million tonnes, up 11.2%, and over the first nine months of the year it reached 14.86 million tonnes, an increase of 6.1%. Within this segment, crude oil was the main monthly driver, with 891,898 tonnes handled, 245,139 more than a year earlier, a jump of 37.9%. In year-to-date terms, crude oil rose 2.9% to 6.79 million tonnes and remained the port's top commodity, with 29.6% of total traffic. Oil derivatives also improved: fuel oil grew 38.9% year-to-date, to 927,640 tonnes, and other petroleum products nearly doubled, reaching 1.21 million tonnes (+87.1%).

In dry bulk, cereals, animal feed and flour together handled 738,010 tonnes in September, up 39.2%, accounting for 82% of all dry bulk traffic for the month. Cereals and their flours alone totalled 638,636 tonnes, up 50.6% from a year earlier, and year-to-date for 2026 they have accumulated 3.37 million tonnes (+10.4%), cementing their position as the port's second-largest commodity behind crude oil. Overall, dry bulk accumulated 6.60 million tonnes and was the segment with the highest relative growth among the three major statistical categories, at 8.7%.

General cargo rebounded strongly in September, reaching 200,625 tonnes, up 19.4%, although it remains the only major segment without positive year-to-date growth, with 1,452,695 tonnes. Among traffic linked to the energy transition, biofuels totalled 225,313 tonnes, up 151.1%, while chemical products grew 3.8% to 2.94 million tonnes. The group made up of chemicals, biofuels and other liquids reached 2.99 million tonnes, its best figure in the last three years, 9.8% above 2024 and 7% above 2025.

Land access points recorded 221,758 vehicle movements in September, between entries and exits, up 8.9%, and 1.88 million year-to-date (+5.1%). On the Eix Transversal, passenger car traffic rose 9.7%, to 99,910 movements, while pedestrian traffic grew 37.3% in September (9,239) and 4.3% year-to-date (65,234). As for vessel calls, the port received 1,670 ships through September, up 2.3% from the same period in 2025. According to the latest comparable data from the Spanish state port system, corresponding to August, Tarragona grew 6.3%, the third-best figure in the system, behind only Castellón (11.2%) and Bilbao (7.7%), while the Spanish port system as a whole grew 1.1%.