Algarve’s ports – Faro, Portimão and Vila Real de Santo António – registered growth in all areas of business from exports to cruise tourism, reports Lusa news agency.
For Faro, it was the best year ever. Exports grew 32% compared to 2012, with nearly 400,000 tons of cargo – mainly from Portuguese cement group Cimpor in Loulé – leaving the port for Cape Verde and the north of Africa, particularly for Algeria.
Considerable amounts of tuna were also exported to Japan, as well as stone, iron, steel and tiles.
In Vila Real de Santo António, the number of cruise ship passengers stopping off grew 18.75% compared to the previous year, mostly due to the 19 stopovers that took place between May and October.
Portimão also saw a rise in passengers and stopovers (despite its lack of a tugboat), registering nearly 9% more passengers – totalling 20,141 – and nearly 17% more stopovers, which climbed from 36 to 42.
Lusa also reported on “positive forecasts” for 2014 with “dynamic port activity”.
