The Port of Algeciras handled 76,251,629 tonnes between January and September 2026, 1.09% more than in the first nine months of 2025, when it recorded 75,432,389 tonnes. The difference, just over 819,000 tonnes, enables the Strait’s docks to fully offset February’s decline in activity, caused by a succession of storms, and enter the final quarter of the year with a positive year-to-date total, according to data from the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA).
The turnaround is underpinned by a September that saw double-digit growth in several traffic categories. In that month alone, the port handled 8,681,544 tonnes, 11.55% more than in September of the previous year. Liquid bulk cargo totalled 2,347,848 tonnes (+11.98%). Discharges rose 24%, to 1,545,292 tonnes, while loadings fell 5.63%. Dry bulk cargo reached 18,714 tonnes (+11.17%). The supply of petroleum products to ships grew 38.2%, to 377,162 tonnes: bunkering at berth rose 78.4%, and at anchorage, 28.18%. General cargo in September stood at 5,474,534 tonnes (+7.59%), and local traffic at 451,109 tonnes (+53.51%). A total of 39,061 trucks used the Strait routes during the month, up 9.25%, with increases of 29% on the Ceuta route and 7.68% on the Tanger Med route.
Over the first nine months, general cargo remains the largest category, at 48,815,560 tonnes, or 64% of the total, although this is down 0.89% from 2025. It is followed by liquid bulk cargo, at 21,762,920 tonnes (+2.91%). This growth comes from discharges (+4.55%), as loadings remain virtually unchanged (+0.04%). Ship supplies total 2,550,449 tonnes (+7.75%), of which 2,435,325 tonnes are petroleum products (+7.13%). Three out of every four tonnes of fuel are supplied at anchorage. Local traffic totals 2,925,987 tonnes (+19.78%), while dry bulk cargo falls 11.48%, to 196,012 tonnes.
Container traffic exceeds 3.5 million TEUs, reaching 3,566,055 units, 0.57% more than a year earlier, although the number of physical containers falls 0.91%, to 2,057,134. International transit—the transshipment of cargo between ships that neither originates nor ends in Spain—accounts for 78% of activity, at 2,778,151 TEUs, and grows 3.8%. By contrast, domestic transit falls 19.61%, to 306,689 TEUs. Import containers increase 2.45% (254,550 TEUs), while export containers decrease 5.34% (226,665 TEUs), with a 12.24% decline in full export containers. Containerized cargo totals 39,146,824 tonnes, down 1.83%. September closed with 410,478 TEUs, 1.49% fewer than in the same month of 2025, despite a 2.46% rise in international transit for the month.
