December 15, 2022
Alfonso Alday I Transportation XXI
Deposa completes its expansion in the port of Bilbao
It raises the storage capacity for agri-food liquid bulk to 32,000 cubic meters following the construction of six new tanks of 2,000 cubic meters each.
Juan Huidobro (left), executive general manager of Deposa, and Pedro Pablos, technical director.
The company Depósitos Portuarios (Deposa), specialized in the storage of agri-food liquid bulk, completes the expansion of its terminal in the port of Bilbao, advanced by this newspaper, which "allows to achieve an improvement of the operational conditions as well as in the environmental and safety areas", according to those responsible for the operator.
The project, whose investment has not been disclosed, consisted of the construction of six stainless steel tanks, heat-insulated and thermally insulated. Each tank has a capacity of 2,000 cubic meters, increasing the capacity of its facilities by 12,000 cubic meters to 32,000 cubic meters.
The works have been developed on a plot of about 2,400 square meters in the Muelle Reina Victoria, adjacent to its terminal, and with the "possibility of undertaking a new expansion in the short or medium term," added the same sources.
The new plant, through independent pipelines, can receive the products directly from the quay, where it has a 500-meter berthing line, with a draft of between 9.5 and 10 meters.
The project also included the construction of a truck loading dock.
tank, with capacity for two vehicles, which can now load or unload six trucks simultaneously at the terminal, which "further optimizes operations," Deposa said.
In addition, the port operator has installed two natural gas-fired steam boilers to heat the product, replacing the old fuel oil boilers, as part of the company's corporate social responsibility policy and compliance with Agenda 2030.
Rising traffic
The expansion of the plant responds both to the increase in Deposa's traffic, which in 2019 exceeded 90,000 tons, placing it at the limit of its capacity, and to the change in the business model of most of the customers who use the terminal's services, the same interlocutors explained.
Forecasts for this year point to over 100,000 tons, a record level of activity, despite the impact of the war in Ukraine. Most of the traffic, close to 95 percent, corresponds to import flows. Among the main goods handled at the terminal are vegetable oils and vegetable fatty acids.
The target for next year is to reach 120,000 tons, equivalent to four rotations of product.
Deposa, founded in 1951, operates in the port of Bilbao, on the land of the Franco depot, a terminal for the reception, storage and dispatch of liquid agri-food products, protected from harmful or hazardous products and operating 24/7. After the completion of the expansion works, the terminal has a storage capacity of 32,000 cubic meters, distributed in 34 tanks of different characteristics and with a capacity of between 150 and 2,000 cubic meters, which "gives us great versatility for customers of all sizes", emphasize Deposa, "a niche company in the north of Spain". The terminal, which is authorized to operate the facility as a bonded warehouse, handles some 6,500 trucks a year. In addition, the facilities have railroad tracks to use the train and distribute the products to any point of the Peninsula, emphasized from Deposa.
The company has all the necessary health authorizations, authorizations as an animal and human food operator, authorization for the treatment of Sandach and has the ISO 9001 quality certificate, as well as the ISO 14001 for environmental management and the international sustainability certificate (ISCC) and carbon footprint.