Partida Aduanas points out the advantages of the Cadiz anchorage for citrus fruit exports.

In 2019, the Port of Algeciras touched the record figure of 110 million tonnes of activity and over 5.1 million TEUs, putting it in the TOP 5 ports in Europe. During the next campaign, it could rise up again as an entry port for citrus exports from different origins. There are many reasons for this. Amongst the advantages are the proximity, with the attraction of fewer transit days from South Africa and Latin America (Argentina and Uruguay), and a hub of connections to the main European logistics centres. Added to this are its infrastructures, such as its cold storage capacity, its deep draft, which can berth megaships of 24,000 TEUS and an effective customs surveillance and control system. Operators such as Partida, with almost 100 years of history, contribute to all this.

Álvaro Partida, Assistant Director and Sales and Communications Manager at the company, defends the nomination of Algeciras as a “reputable port”. And he advances that the shipping companies, along with the export associations, could support this port again. “It is completely logical, due to the facilities and installations it offers. There are many interests involved in these types of decisions, but speed and pragmatism must come first. The advantage of providing a wide range of freighters nearby, the extensive working hours and the offer of associated services/activities for these goods and ships must also be considered. Not all ports have the muscle of a port like this one”.

Partida holds the AEO (Authorised Economic Operator) certificate, which differentiates it as a reputable Customs Broker for the Customs Service. “We are true to our work line in the customs field. Complicated procedures require knowledge, attention to detail and internal communication, because in this sector time is of the essence. Our goal is to become part of the success of the companies, encouraging the fact that the goods are dispatched correctly and leave the port as soon as possible, en route to their destinations.”

Therefore, the company takes charge of coordinating the necessary activities, from the customs procedures, to the logistics transactions from the arrival of the goods to the port, passing through the BIPs, warehouses, until the goods leave on the way to their destinations. To do this, they communicate between the Customs Services and the different customs organisms (Foreign Health, Soivre and Plant Protection).

85% of its actions correspond to fruit and vegetable produce, its strong point in recent years, for import, export, and transit operations. They are transported in trucks and containers both to and from Morocco, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, South Africa, Brazil, Colombia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia, etc.

In the eternal search for excellence, they are implementing new software to digitalise their tracking operations and to find out in real time what is happening to the goods in the Port. A service that could be up and running in the very near future.