The Port Authorities of Bilbao and Mercabilbao have met with representatives of thirteen American embassies, two African and one Asian, seeking to attract more agro-food product imports from America and Africa, mainly.
The meeting, attended by representatives from Mexico, Peru, Colombia, South Africa, Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, the United States, Morocco and Pakistan, has served to reveal the interest of fruit producing/marketing companies in visiting the facilities of the Port of Bilbao and Mercabilbao on the occasion of their trip to Madrid to participate in the fair Fruit Attraction, which will take place from 23 to 25 October. During this visit, a working session will be organised with the main fruit importing and exporting companies in Bilbao and their area of influence.
At the meeting, information was provided about the facilities and the port operations for food products. The potential of Mercabilbao as a fruit and vegetable trading hub for northern Spain and the south of France was also highlighted.
The Port of Bilbao is the fourth most important in Spain, with a total traffic of 34.2 million tonnes, with 6.4 of them shipped in containers.
In recent years, the Port of Bilbao has made an important commitment to increasing the inflows and outflows of fruits and vegetables. To achieve this, it is collaborating closely with Mercabilbao, the largest perishable food distribution centre in the north of the Iberian Peninsula.
Spain imports 3.6 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables, with 28% of these within a 400 km radius of the Port of Bilbao.
Source: spanishports.es
