Presentation

Thanks to that endeavour, we are now among the leading ports of the Spanish port system and the second port in the top 30 European commercial ports that have posted greatest growth in the last decade. Far from resting on our laurels, that only drives us to further strive to grow the port and, in turn, to improve the life of all the people of Huelva. Those results also confirm our strong commitment to the social development of our environment, given the role of the Port of Huelva as an economic driver in its hinterland, a role that has to lead to job opportunities being created in cooperation with the social fabric.

2019 was a record year, with a total volume of freight traffic of 33.8 million tons, thanks to the strong performance of the solid and liquid bulk traffic, along with general freight. We should stress that traffic at Port of Huelva traffic increased by 2.57% on 2018, compared to the rise posted by the Spanish port system overall, which stood at 0.19 %.

As regards accumulated bulk traffic in 2019, it came to 5.7 million tons of solid bulk and 26.6 million tons in liquid bulk.

As regards general freight, special mention should be made of the increase in traffic at the South Wharf, with container lines operating with northern Europe, Morocco and the Canary Islands. Total container traffic in 2019 stood at 73,986 TEUS, which was up 5.26% on 2018.

With respect to cruise traffic, we received a total of seven stopovers, mainly at the Levante Wharf, where tourists can directly access the city. Our idea is to encourage and work to attract mega-yachts, which, even though they bring a smaller number of passengers, they usually have a high purchasing power, which generates added value for the city's economy.

This consolidates our position as a first-rate logistic hub, a benchmark between Algeciras and Sines, a major gateway towards Europe from the South Atlantic, with a clear outreach to Morocco and West Africa, and a point of reference for Central & South America and the Caribbean. On the other hand, we are also a leading industrial logistic hub on the Iberian Peninsula and the main industrial enclave of Andalusia, the second in Spain and, what is more important, the driving economic force of Huelva and its surrounding area.

At the same time, the port-city outreach and relationship with the surrounding areas are also important. Both management lines are complementary.

I have therefore sought to take a markedly social approach to my management, as regards the port-city outreach strategic line, in addition, of course, to the business itself. We therefore increased the budget in the 2019 Port-City Call up to €200,000. We thus helped to co-fund 72 social, sport and cultural projects in Huelva, Palos and the surrounding areas, meaning that we funded 81% of the applications.

Furthermore, we also collaborated with a further 76 entities in Huelva and our surrounding areas by sponsoring sport, cultural and social events, as part of our Corporate and Social Responsibility policy. In total, we helped over 150 groups from the city and the province.

On the other hand, it should be noted that we are revitalising the port areas to host sport, cultural and leisure activities and events, at places such as the Paseo de la Ría riverside walk, our Cocheras performance venue or the Reception Centre.

We want to help the port to develop its full potential and continue to grow as a major economic driving force and generate opportunities for jobs and wealth, something that is reflected in the results of the 2018 Port of Huelva Economic Impact Study. The port generates a total of 25,979 jobs including direct, indirect and induced ones, which accounts for 12.5% of the province's employment and 0.8% of jobs in Andalusia.

The Gross Value Added is over €2.6 billion, which is 27.7% of the GVA of Huelva and 1.8% of the GVA of Andalusia.

As regards the implementation of the 2019 investments, our  investment volume is very significant for the coming year 2020, with projects on which we have been working and others that are going to get underway shortly, such as the Maersk feeder line. Important investments that are going to begin and others that are going to continue, such as the extension of the South Wharf, the works for new access layout, widening the access road to this wharf with two lanes or the surfacing of the lorry park for Ro-Ro traffic.

 We also embarked on the formalities to commission the Cold Hub on the South Wharf and the remodelling of the Levante Wharf. The urban planning phase got underway with the approval of the Detailed Study to start the project management, with an international call to prepare the development project and the management model, prior to its implementation. We also started the remodelling work on Avenida Francisco Montenegro and the work on the "Seafood City" is near completion.

With respect to our historical heritage, we are working on preserving and recovering it for the public. Last year, we started work on the renovation of the Monument to Columbus as one of my first decisions as Chair of the Huelva Port Authority, which will be completed in 2020. On the other hand, a contest was launched to reconstruct the Fountain of the Nations, a symbol of the Port of Huelva and of the whole city but which had disappeared.

Yet one of our most important initiatives that we have already begun and which we will continue to develop is our digital transformation plan, where we are working on a new management model as a smart port to address the challenges of digital and global logistics. We have announced the creation of a new port technology innovation hub, which will be located on the upper floor of the new Fish Auction House facilities. The aim is to facilitate the joint work of the private and public sectors to develop new technological products that are applicable to the port and logistics sector.  

As regards other innovative projects, we have submitted a proposal for the European LifeWatch project and we expect to get an answer soon. This involves developing a series of systems that will allow us to use technology to monitor the physical behaviour of the Huelva River Estuary in order to improve its operational and environmental management. Furthermore, the project envisages an intense programme of activities aimed at disseminating its results and the participation of the international scientific community in the research work linked to the estuary.

Following the guidelines of the expert group of the Transport and Logistics Digital Forum to which the Port of Huelva belongs, we are also immersed in different collaborative projects with different international logistics operators, using new technologies such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence or Deep Learning, in order to incorporate new technological developments in the Port of Huelva as efficiently as possible. This will allow the integration of the Port with other infrastructures and ensure the steady improvement of the logistic efficiency from our hub.

As far as marketing and cooperation with the port community are concerned, the Association for the Commercial Promotion of the Port of Huelva, HuelvaPort has been consolidated and now has 50 members. This has significantly boosted the logistic and commercial activity of the Port of Huelva by providing an integral range of services.

In the search for new markets, there were 127 commercial actions last year related to general logistics, container traffic, RORO and ROPAX, cold storage logistics, solid bulk, gas and oil market, to the agri-food sector, to the mega-yachts and or the Huelva-Casablanca connection, to name just a few, in addition to the port being present at over 25 technical sessions.

All our actions and projects have a common denominator, a cross-cutting aspect: we work with the Sustainable Development Goals set in the UN sustainable development agenda that are included in our Strategic Plan.

As part of our commitment to environmental sustainability, we have a proactive environmental policy and we are a benchmark for other European and Spanish ports. This year we celebrated the I Environmental Sustainability and Port Management Symposiums, the first symposium organised at national level on environmental sustainability at ports. This event with international participation and scope was organised at the initiative of the Port of Huelva, in conjunction with Puertos del Estado and the Ports and Coasts Technical Association.

We have planned environmental investments to the tune of €40 million in this area over the coming years and which are set out in the Corporate Plan. This bolsters the Port's commitment to a strong and proactive environmental strategy in the key business areas.

As Chair of the Huelva Port Authority, I should like to particularly stress that, as can be seen from the results in this 2019 Report, our whole team of over 200 professionals is firmly committed to the implementation of new projects. They provide a very promising future outlook for the diversification of the port activity, as well as to create opportunities to drive the social and economic development of its hinterland in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly way.