The strong growth of the containerized cargo – and, thus, the activity at TCL – was decisive for the record reached by Leixões, in 2012, with a total of 16.6 million tons handled.
Regarding the year of 2011, which had already been a record, the growth was of 2%, which means 250 thousand tons.
The containerized cargo, by itself, grew 19%, going from 5.4 millions to 6.5 million tons.
In line with the increase in the tonnage, container handling increased also 23%, having reached 632,601 TEU, an absolute national record.
Still last year, liquid bulk went back 6% in corresponding terms to seven million tons; solid bulk went back 13% to 2.2 million tons; and break bulk decreased 2% to 916 thousand tons. The ro-ro cargo represented less than 18 thousand tons (even after an increase of 76%).