“We are going to continue fighting to have it.” This is how Adolfo Utor, president of Baleària, referred yesterday to the future terminal that the shipping company will have in the port of Valencia, a project that is currently stopped due to the different “inconveniences” that have arisen and that also conditions its expansion plans in North Africa, where the company works on different maritime lines. As he pointed out yesterday at a press conference, “at the moment we were experiencing tremendous growth, but it depends on us having adequate terminals in both Valencia and Barcelona,” he acknowledged.
In November 2022, the investment of 100 million euros was announced (61.8 million euros will be provided by the Port of Valencia and the other 37.3 million by the shipping company) that will be undertaken on the land occupied by the shipyard of the Unión Naval de València, with an area of ??100,000 m2 for a period of 35 years, extendable up to a maximum of 50 years.
A project to which different obstacles have arisen, “linked to the safety of the maneuver of the ships that are planned and due to some resources that have paralyzed the course of the works.” Utor confessed yesterday that “we continue waiting for these unknowns to be cleared up to begin the works as soon as possible and finish them.”
He added that “we are absolutely willing to start the investment and to have minimum service conditions in the port of Valencia that we do not have now.” He hopes that “this year” the works will begin, which will take a minimum of two years. In Barcelona, ??for now, Baleària operates at the Adossat dock while it aspires to have its own terminal with a concession from the Port of Barcelona.
He explained it this way during the press conference of the 2023 results, which stands as a new record year for the shipping company based in Dénia, despite the difficulties assumed by the “high” financial costs. Baleària closed last year with 652 million euros in turnover, which represents a significant growth of 15%, while recording an Ebitda of 117 million euros (in 2022 it was 140) and a total of 40 million euros of result, 27 less than the previous year. “Our debt is important because our financial costs, which are very expensive, have risen as a result of the rise in the Euribor, and that has also directly affected our results,” he said. He said he was “satisfied in absolute terms” with the result. “We continue to be market leaders,” he added.
The future commitment to North Africa is in the shipping company’s plans, given the success that the current routes register in their results. In passenger and vehicle transport, the greatest growth has occurred on routes with Morocco, and in freight transport there has been a “high growth” in international routes, mainly in connections with Tangier.
With Algeria, after the diplomatic crisis, the company maintains a weekly route despite the fact that its plans, before the pandemic, were to establish up to four services a week from Valencia. “At the moment no movements are expected… and it does not seem like they are going to improve. It was a mirage that dissipated and now we are not optimistic,” said Adolfo Utor.
With a fleet of 30 owned vessels, in addition to a dozen chartered ones, Baleària operated 25 routes in six different countries. By business areas, it stands out that 59% of the billing corresponds to the passenger area and 36% to the transportation of goods. Furthermore, 75% of turnover comes from national routes, and the remaining 25% from international connections.
