Project logistics activity from Spain and Portugal remains steady in key sectors such as offshore energy, automotive, and rail – despite softening renewables volumes and escalating geopolitical trade tensions. Beatriz Alvarado, logistics sales, chartering and procurement director at project forwarder Kaleido, shared her views on the market with HLPFI’s May/June edition.
Alvarado neatly summarised the present market conditions: “If we are talking only about project logistics, then the renewable sector has been one of the leading industries exporting cargo out of Spain and Portugal for the past few years – even if we presently see a significant reduction of volume exported in onshore, with the exception of some volumes out of northern Spain and Portugal where we are very active and we have geographic footprint.”
Beyond renewable energy, Iberian logisticians are involved in a range of sectors, with the automotive and transportation industries two of the key areas. “As for industrial projects, the main sectors exporting cargoes are offshore, oil and gas, construction, mining, automotive and shipbuilding,” she said. “Therefore, we see cargo such as presses, transformers, train and metro wagons, boats, steel structures, passenger boarding bridges and more. These have been commodities traditionally manufactured in Spain and Portugal, and it is still the case, despite the offshoring suffered by some of them some years ago. As an example, we are regularly involved in transportation of railcars being exported from Spain.”
There are projects in the pipeline for this year and next, according to Alvarado – but there are also challenges that need to be navigated. “Generally speaking, 2024 has not been an outstanding year, but it has been within the expectations of the market. Many projects were delayed and postponed for execution in 2025 or 2026.
“2025 is a challenging year, mainly due to the geopolitical situation which has a huge impact on international trade, with new taxes, banned trades, new regulations, the Panama Canal and so forth. Amongst the trades we are involved in, two routes are trades clearly affected. Between the EU and the USA, Customs taxes are being imposed on cargoes coming from Europe.
”It has been estimated that about a quarter of EU exports to the USA could be affected by an increase of 25 percent tariffs. And of course this will be reciprocated, and the EU will act accordingly and do the same to USA cargoes.
“The other route is between China and the USA. New taxes are being imposed on Chinese cargoes… and of course it goes both ways, any nation or market will react by imposing taxes of incoming products from those countries, which creates a climate of extreme uncertainty for all the players involved.”
Alvarado flagged up potential consequences such as postponed shipments; taxes making the import of certain goods unprofitable, leading to cancelled shipments; and challenges for manufacturers who relocated factories to Asia. “All this has a huge impact on the supply chain and global logistics, which may end up in an increase of rates and more expensive products for final customers. However, there is always a glimpse of hope; we have all survived a pandemic in logistics, the Panama Canal getting dried, war in Ukraine, Red Sea attacks and more. So, we can deal with the present situation, too.
“International trade will always continue existing, routes may vary, some sourcing adjustments would take place, new trades will emerge, and it will take some time of course, but worldwide logistics will find its way to seek balance.”
