LISBON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The volume of cargo handled by Portuguese ports in 2017 is set to break annual records, the nation's Mobility and Transport Authority (AMT) announced on Monday.
Ports on the Portuguese mainland had handled 81.3 million tonnes of cargo by the end of October, 5.1 percent more than in the corresponding period for 2016. The final tally for 2016 was 93.9 million tonnes, the highest ever annual volume.
Sines remains by far Portugal's busiest port, accounting for 52.2 percent of the total cargo volume.
But it is the increase in traffic at Lisbon that has most raised the overall total. The port of Lisbon has seen a 26 percentage point increase in volume for the first ten months of the year.
The port of Leixoes, just outside Porto, has also seen volumes climb, recording an 8.1 percentage points year on year increase.
Leixoes is thus the second busiest port in Portugal, handling 20.2 percent of all shipping cargo. Lisbon comes in third, accounting for a 12.6 percent share of the overall total.
In terms of containers, known as TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), Portugal had handled 2.5 million tonnes by the end of October. The total figure for 2016 was 2.74 million, also an annual record.
In 2016, Sines was ranked among the 15 busiest ports in Europe by TEU volume. Flows so far point to a similar distinction in 2017.
