PortCastelló has helped the sustainability of the Castellón port sector with 11 million in revenue

PortCastelló closes 2020 with a profit before tax of 6.7 million, which represents a decrease of 32% compared to the previous year. “However, it is a good result given the circumstances, as witnessed by the fact that the port system will close with an 82% decrease in the result for the year.” This was stated by the president of the Castellón Port Authority, Rafa Simó, at a press conference, accompanied by the director Ana Ulloa and the head of the Financial Economic Department, Maritina Vidal.

Regarding revenue, PortCastelló registered 28.8 million (11.7% less than in 2019). This is due to the loss of traffic due to the pandemic, which means entering fewer fees, and the reduction of port fees under Royal Decree Law 26/2020 to help port companies overcome the crisis, thus helping to maintain the logistics fabric and employment.

Therefore, this aid from the Castellón Port Authority can be quantified at 11 million between bonuses to the occupancy rate, postponement of the activity rate, advance payment to suppliers and postponement of charges to concessionaires.

“The financial strength of PortCastelló has allowed it to continue with benefits despite the impact on its accounts of these measures,” said Rafa Simó.

Operating expenses grew only 0.29%, reaching 19.7 million, despite the fact that the Port Authority has had to face the cost of measures to alleviate the effects of COVID-19.

The financial result amounts to -2.3 million while in 2019 it exceeded three million in negative. Therefore, the result improved by 22.8% thanks to the restructuring of the debt undertaken, which allowed the interest rate on the loans to be lowered and the repayment period extended. This has meant a financial cost savings of almost 700,000 euros.PortCastelló closes 2020 with good financial soundness indicators: EBITDA amounts to 16.3 million, Cash-Flow to 14.2 million and working capital to 60.1 million, “which will allow to face the ambitious plan of productive investments committed for the coming years, which will have a driving effect on the Castellón economy and will improve the competitiveness of PortCastelló ”.

On the other hand, the Castellón Port Authority faces 2021 with a reduction in rates, an increase in services and an investment effort that is set at 18.5 million to be a competitive and attractive port.

The forecasts are to grow 6% compared to 2020 and close with 19,600,000 tons of goods. In this sense, the great investment milestones in 2021 will be:

• Tender for internal rail connections, whose global investment is 20 million euros.
• Tender for the improvement of the external transverse pier, whose global investment is 8.7 million.
• Drafting of the construction project for the intermodal station, whose global investment is 20 million.
• Tender for the north dock fire network, whose global investment is 2 million.
• Execution of the fencing of the service area and improvement of access controls, for a global value of 1.2 million
• Completion of the new berth for liquid bulk, with 2 million this year and a global value of 4 million euros.
• Decrease in port fees, correction coefficients and the terminal occupancy rate – 10% for containers and 9% for merchandise, among others.Improvement of services and maintenance plan, with an investment of 200,000 euros this year.Increase in the item of wages and salaries, and the improvement of the productivity of the Port Authority with the announcement of 11 public job offers.

The Castellón Port Authority has also taken stock of the total traffic in 2020. The port of Castellón closed moving 18,541,498 tons of goods, representing a decrease of 10.5% compared to the previous year. This decrease is in line with the closure forecasts of the Port Authority derived from the pandemic. PortCastelló climbs positions in solid bulk traffic, positioning itself as the second port, and remains as the ninth in freight traffic among the 46 ports that make up the Spanish port system, which also suffers the effects of COVID by falling by 8, 6%.The main traffics that maintain the dynamism of the port of Castellón are petrochemical and ceramic.