The handling of goods in the major mainland ports increased 13.2% in the first five months of the year, when compared to the same period of 2014, according to the data disclosed by the IMT (Portuguese Mobility and Transports Institute).
Between January and May, the eight ports handled 36.8 million tonnes, a new historical high.
Among the different types of goods, liquid bulk grew 25.7% to 13.5 million tonnes; the dry bulk rose 16.3% to 8.2 million tonnes; general cargo increased by 2.6% and reached 15.1 million tonnes.
In the same period, the handling of containers exceeded the million TEU (1,050,709), as the result of an improvement of 4.5%.
Overall, the port of Sines was the fastest growing (32%), followed by Aveiro (4.5%), Figueira da Foz (3.4%) and Leixões (2%).
In Leixões, the cargo handling in late May reached 7.6 million tonnes, which is a record.