He Port of Las Palmas loses competitiveness in the segment of the bunkering about holy cross of Tenerifewhich has improved its activity in the supply of fuel so far this year, according to the statistics for July prepared by the port authorities of both provinces Canary Islands.
With the statistical data in hand, between January and July 2023, the palms has dispatched 1,233,748 tons of fuel in the ports of its province, 129,393 less than the same period of 2022, which translates into a decrease in activity of 9.49 percent, according to the analysis of the movements accumulated during the first seven months of the year.
Santa Cruz of Tenerifeon the other hand, improves its percentages of fuel supplies so far in 2023. Its ports, between January and July, have supplied 289,102 tons of hydrocarbons, 47,280 more than the same period in 2022. This entails an increase in business volume of 19.55 percent in this sector.
Trend
In short, the Accumulated data indicate that Las Palmas is down and that Santa Cruz de Tenerife increases in the sale of fuel during the first seven months of 2023. There is still the rest of the year to be invoiced and the difference in the final volume of tons will continue to be much higher in favor of The lightbut the trend set by the numbers is there.
Las Palmas, in fact, tends to be measured with Algecirasleader in the national ranking in this segment and main competitor of La Luz in fuel supplies, which last year came to occupy the second position around these same dates, thanks to the push of companies such as Peninsula Petroleum, Cepsa, Minerva and Oryx, all with infrastructure to work in the bay of the capital of Gran Canaria. Santa Cruz, on the other hand, occupied the seventh position in the national classification
The loss of competitivenesshowever, it is real because that is how the statistics collect it, a trend that has caused surprise within the Port Authority of Las Palmas. And it is that if only the month of July is taken into account, La Luz falls by up to 25 percent in fuel sales.
Causes of the fall
The port sources consulted see a direct relationship between this decrease and the improvement of the Tenerife portswith services that were previously carried out in Las Palmas and are now referred to Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Yet the direct competition between both island ports does not seem to be the only cause that explains the downturn in Las Palmas.
The sources consulted agree that some companies have intensified their activity in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, but recall that La Luz is a port for international traffic and, therefore, all the economic vicissitudes that occur in that sphere.
These include the blockade of Russian ships due to the war in Ukrainewhich used to refuel large amounts of fuel in La Luz, a traffic that has been lost due to the sanctions of the European Union.
international traffic
Furthermore, international traffic has not rebounded as expected and the crisis forces us to control consumption and reduce the activity of vessels, especially in China, which is in recession and that motivates the drop in its exports. The fall in bunkering, therefore, could be general and also affect other ports.
We will have to wait for the next few months to see if La Luz loses its second position in this activity or not, without forgetting the demand for alternative fuels to fuel, a sector in which the palms it has yet to catch up with respect to other ports.
All in all, despite this 25 percent decrease in the month of July alone, the port of La capital of gran canaria managed to grow 18 percent in its balance sheet of commercial activity
