Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has started a rail freight service this week to link the fluvial port of Seville with the ports of Cordoba and Valencia. With this service the company is responding to agricultural demands to efficiently export to new markets, with a looming decline in UK purchases after the Brexit.

The service consists of  two trains per week; on Monday and Tuesday, with 35 containers each. The service has started this week and focuses on olive oil and orange exporters. It is part of more complete multimodal services connecting Andalusian agricultural farmers with ports in the Middle East and North Africa.

Rail freight services

The Swiss sea shipping company is increasing its focus on developing rail freight services for Spanish agricultural exporters, after having developed new lines between Seville, Cordoba and the Portuguese port of Sines, on the Atlantic coast crossing Extremadura.

The Spanish regions of Extremadura (west) and Andalusia (south) have witnessed a boost in agricultural exports and farmers and exporters are demanding rail freight services to trade with competitive prices in Middle and Far Eastern countries, especially with Mediterranean products such as olives, olive oil and oranges.

Importers

The UK is one of the most important importers of Andalusian fresh agricultural products, many farmers forecasting a fall in its acquisitions due to traffic delays, especially in fresh fruit. As a result, they are looking into emerging markets such as Jordan, Lebanon, UAE, Saudi Arabia or China.