More investment in Barcelona linked to the maritime facade. Three large companies have announced investments in the Port of Barcelona worth more than 110 million euros, which will result in the creation of new jobs and the consolidation of the Catalan capital as one of the most important logistics hubs in the Mediterranean. These are APM Terminals, which manages one of the port's main container terminals, the Catalan company Relisa ---specialized in bulk liquid storage--- and the multinational Primagas, which has acquired 100% of a propane gas storage facility considered strategic.
The most significant investment has been announced by APM Terminals, a company subsidiary of the Danish maritime giant Maersk, which has committed to investing 104 million until 2028. This budget is linked to the decision made by the Port of Barcelona's board of directors to extend the terminal's concession period by 8 years, which will now end in October 2036. According to the port infrastructure chaired by Damià Calvet, APM Terminals Barcelona will remodel the 1,500 square meter dock line it operates on the South quay to increase its draft and be able to serve the large container ships currently being put into service worldwide.
The container terminal operated by APM in Barcelona ---incorporated in 2016 thanks to the purchase of Grup Maritim TCB--- has an area of 81 hectares and will now also be equipped with new machinery and higher capacity cranes to facilitate the activity of the stevedoring company.
In parallel, the Port of Barcelona has also agreed to increase by ten years, until 2041, the concession operated by Receptora de Líquidos (Relisa), a logistics company focused on the reception, storage, handling, and dispatch of bulk liquid products, such as oils, fats, biofuels, and chemical products. In exchange for the extension of the contract, Relisa has committed to carrying out an investment plan of 10.3 million euros until 2026 aimed at modernizing its facilities to gain productivity and efficiency, improve the operation of the railway terminal, and increase storage capacity. The agreement foresees the remodeling of berth 32 of the Energía dock. Relisa's terminal has an area of 27,400m² and a storage capacity of 200,000 m³ distributed in 127 tanks, with capacities ranging from 100 to 7,500 m³.
In parallel to these two initiatives derived from the extension of concessions, the gas multinational Primagas has announced that it has acquired the 50% of the capital it did not control in the warehouse that Koalagas has in the Port of Barcelona. Until now, 50% of this warehouse was owned by the Italian company Decal, one of the main operators of petroleum products installed in the port. "It has been a pleasure to work alongside Primagas, part of such an important global group and a reference in the LPG sector, but the time has come for our paths to separate and for Koalagas to develop its activity hand in hand with Primagas," explained Ignacio Pujol, general director of Decal Spain.
The Koalagas warehouse in Barcelona opened in 2000 and is considered "a strategic facility for the Spanish gas sector," according to Jan Schouwenaar, CEO of Primagas, a subsidiary of the Dutch group SHV Energy. Koalagas is dedicated to storing propane and a year ago received the first ship to arrive at a Spanish port loaded with the new biopropane fuel.
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