Port of Piraeus: Two speed recovery

The Piraeus Port controlled by Chinese COSCO continues to decline in the international ranking of ports, according to “LloydsList” statistics for 2021.

As reported by the international newspaper in the edition “The top 100 ports 2022”, the largest port of Greece recorded a decrease in the handling of container cargo for the second year in a row  to 5.31 million teu, compared to 5.43 million teu a year ago. This resulted in it losing five places in the ranking compared to 2020 data as the Covid 19 pandemic, port congestions and flight cancellations continued.

And all this while, on the whole, the 100 largest ports in the world managed in 2021 to cover the lost ground of 2020, due to the pandemic, and to record an increase in cargo traffic of more than 7%, to 676.1 million teu, a number that eclipsed the lag from the 2020 recession.

However, the picture was not the same everywhere, with North America mainly showing signs of recovery. In the Mediterranean a similar two-tier picture was recorded, as some ports gained and others lost ground. According to the publication, the port of Tangiers in Morocco is the top earner, recording a 25% increase in a year to 7.173 million teu and is now considered the largest port in the Mediterranean with Valencia following in second place with an increase of 3.2 %, at 5.604 million teu. While the performance of Marsaxlokk port in Malta was also impressive (up more than 20%) to 2.967 million teu.

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COSCO’s plans

On the other hand, it was a disappointing year for Piraeus, with cargo handling down 2.3% to 5.3 million teu, as mentioned above. However, COSCO still insists, LloydsList notes, that it aims to increase cargo volumes at the Eastern Mediterranean’s largest port by up to 10 million teu in the coming years.

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Regarding Piraeus, the overall decrease in cargo handling by 2.3%, according to “LloydsList”, was mainly due to the decrease by 4.1% in cargo handling at piers II and III managed by SEP and was slightly below 4.7 million teu at the end of 2021, while they have the capacity to handle 7.2 million teu.

This decline was offset by a 13.9% increase at the smaller Pier I, operated by the Piraeus Port Authority, which handled 615,510 teu. As in 2020, terminal growth in 2021 was driven by an increase in transhipment volume.

PPA also added five stacker cranes in 2021, plus a new super-post-panamax crane that will allow it to handle 20,000 teu vessels.

Cargo handling

While 2021 marked the second year of declining cargo handling at Piraeus, COSCO Shipping Ports which controls the entire port has made clear its ambition to reach 10 million teu of cargo handling at the eastern gateway to the European Union, notes ” LloydsList’.

In fact, he recalls that in the fall of 2021, COSCO Shipping Ports officially acquired another 16% of the port from the Greek State for 88 million euros ($89.3 million), to increase its total ownership share to 67%. It also secured a five-year extension from the government to fulfill its €294 million investment commitments in the port.

It should be noted that the downward trend continues in Piraeus in 2022, as between January and July 2022, 2.535 million containers were handled by the two piers of SEP, marking a decrease of 9.9% compared to the corresponding period in 2021. In the month of July, 391,500 containers, a decrease of 12% compared to July 2021.