The Strategic Plan 2030 with a vision for 2040 sets the installed capacity of the Port of Algeciras Bay for containers at nine million TEUs by 2035, according to the document approved by the Port Authority of Algeciras Bay (APBA). The plan distinguishes this projection from an intermediate capacity of 7.5 million TEUs for 2030 and establishes, in parallel, a real traffic target of six million TEUs by the end of the decade, distributed into five million transshipment and one million for import and export.
The figure is supported by the Port Master Plan, which sets the physical roadmap to reach those nine million TEUs. The two main milestones anticipated are the completion of phase B of Isla Verde Exterior and the improvement of drafts along with the modernization of the APM Terminals Algeciras terminal. The document also includes a 30% increase in reefer traffic, the refrigerated cargo that requires specific electrical infrastructure at the dock.
Phase B of the Isla Verde Exterior dock already has an identified operator for its first section. TTI Algeciras, a semi-automated terminal participated in by the South Korean shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and the French group CMA CGM, is processing with the APBA the extension of its concession to incorporate 15.9 hectares of that phase B — around 40% of its surface — to the 30 hectares it currently occupies in phase A. The project, estimated by the company itself at around 135 million euros, will add half a million TEUs annually to the terminal's capacity, up to 2.1 million TEUs. The company recorded on June 30 in the Official Bulletin of the Commercial Registry an increase in capital of 70 million euros to finance a large part of that investment. The planned equipment includes two dock cranes, twelve automatic yard cranes, and six shuttle carriers. The concession of TTI Algeciras has been extended until 2066. A second phase, which the APBA hopes can be underway by 2030, would add another half a million TEUs of capacity, up to 2.8 million at the terminal.
The distinction between capacity and traffic is central to interpreting the plan. Installed capacity indicates the maximum amount that the infrastructure can move in a year under optimal conditions; actual traffic reflects what actually passes through the docks. The APBA suggests that by 2035 the infrastructure should have margin — nine million versus the six million it aims to move by 2030 — leaving room to capture additional traffic without new large-scale works.
