WHITE PAPER. The Spanish freight transport market has been attracting increased investor interest during the last two years. This trend has helped to internationalise the sector and boost the role of the Spanish economy in international trade.
In 2023 and 2024, Spain benefited from a significant inflow of direct foreign investment, which was estimated to have accounted for 3% of its average annual GDP. This was more than double the inflow of foreign investment in other major European economies. This fresh capital, which came mainly from other European Union countries and the United Kingdom, has made a decisive contribution to investment generally in Spain.
The transport sector has not been among the main beneficiaries of the inflows of the last two years. Nevertheless, looking at investment projects over a longer period, we can see that there has been real growth in foreign investment in Spanish transport, which is little analysed and commented on outside Spain itself.
The scale of investment varies from segment to segment. The presence of foreign investors is particularly marked in port cargo-handling, with virtually all container terminals now under foreign control. To a lesser extent, it can be seen, too, in rail freight, where "alternative" investors, most of them backed by foreign capital, now account for the bulk of activity. In road transport, the situation is particular, with an upsurge in mergers and acquisitions, which mainly concerns the controlled temperature segment of the market.
CONTENTS
1/ The gradual takeover of Spanish cargo-handling
-
APM Terminals present in all three top Spanish ports
-
MSC has made Valencia its strategic hub
-
Hutchison opts for Barcelona base
-
Hanjin Shipping and HMM set up in Algeciras
-
COSCO, the Chinese giant, joins the fray
-
CMA CGM establishes itself in four ports
-
Other operators' strategies
-
A major transformation
2/ Rail freight, too, has been transformed by foreign investment
-
New investors
-
Aggressive strategies
-
MSC makes the break
-
Other operators' strategies
3/ Refrigerated transport gets preference in road haulage sector
- Consolidation well advanced
- Three major operations
- French operators well placed
Please enter your details below to download our white paper on foreign investment in the Spanish goods transport sector.
