The Association for the Commercial Promotion of the Port of Huelva celebrates its fifth anniversary
Huelva, July 13, 2021. The Association for the Commercial Promotion of the Port of Huelva (HuelvaPort) has delivered today at the Reception and Documentation Center of the Port of Huelva the awards of the II edition of the Logistics Awards, in which it has rewarded the contribution to excellence, innovation and logistics competitiveness of the Port of Huelva of projects carried out by the Chamber of Commerce of Huelva, the company Impala Terminals Huelva, the Bernardino Abad Logistics Group and the company Transitex. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
During the awards ceremony, the president of HuelvaPort, Antonio Ponce, stressed that the award-winning projects represent a commitment to improving competitiveness and innovation, which add value to the logistics chain and the Port of Huelva itself. He also valued the efforts of the companies in this global economic situation, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the other hand, Ponce has used the event to recall that HuelvaPort has already completed its first five years, after a group of entrepreneurs in the province linked to transport, logistics, industry, mining, maritime services and other sectors of activity such as engineering, industrial cleaning, ancillary and trade, together with the Port Authority of Huelva, created on July 8, 2016 Huelvaport, with the illusion of growing around the Port of Huelva. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
For her part, the president of the Port Authority of Huelva, Pilar Miranda, after congratulating the winners and the port community, has highlighted the need to remain united to “continue to position ourselves as a benchmark of the Spanish port system, offering the market a comprehensive range of services, around the traditional traffics of the Port, such as liquid and solid bulks, and in our commitment to diversification, around the general cargo and containerized goods, in addition to cold logistics, new energy models and technological innovation. All this in order to continue generating new business opportunities, wealth and employment, which will also have an impact on the citizens”. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Likewise, Pilar Miranda stressed that the award-winning projects represent a true picture of the development and evolution of the activity that the Port of Huelva has registered in recent years in its strategy towards diversification in the wide range of traffics that converge in the Port of Huelva. “The award-winning projects of this edition are a clear example of this, being initiatives located both in the Intermodal Platform of the South Pier, as in the bulk docks, and incorporating projects in relation to the new Logistics Activities Zone (ZAL), in Punta del Sebo”.
During the ceremony, the president of HuelvaPort and the president of the Port of Huelva, praised the former head of the HuelvaPort Technical Office and the Commercial Department of the Port Authority of Huelva, Manuel Veaga, for his intense and praiseworthy work in the commercial promotion of the Port of Huelva, as well as his dedication to HuelvaPort.
The event was attended by the director of the Port Authority of Huelva, Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio, the head of the Business Development and Commercial Department of the Port Authority of Huelva and head of the Technical Office of HuelvaPort, Jaime Beltrán, the secretary of HuelvaPort, Javier Capitán, other members of the Board of Directors, associates and various authorities and personalities of Huelva.
Awards Ceremony
The Award for Excellence in Logistics, aimed at any national or international logistics company that has stood out for its expansion, internationalization or contribution to the logistics sector, went to the Chamber of Commerce of Huelva, for actions related to the promotion of the ZAL Port of Huelva, as an action within the framework of the European Focomar Project, promoted by the Andalusian Council of Chambers of Commerce. The Focomar project focuses on promoting maritime trade for SMEs by strengthening cooperation between ports and companies.
In this proposal, the jury valued the actions carried out by the Chamber of Commerce in Huelva within the framework of this project, as it involves actions aimed at strengthening the visibility and integration in the environment of the Logistics Activities Zone (ZAL) of the Port of Huelva, including a Marketing Plan for the ZAL Port of Huelva and the Logistics-Industrial Spaces in the Port; a Pilot Plan for the Implementation of companies in the Port and the organization of conferences and training in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce of Huelva, the Port Authority of Huelva and HuelvaPort. Therefore, it has been considered that the Chamber of Commerce has carried out a project within the scope of excellence in logistics from the promotion of the ZAL and the integration of different economic agents of the surrounding area in the project.
The Business Innovation Award, aimed at companies associated with HuelvaPort that have stood out for the implementation of an innovative project, contributing to the improvement of the company’s competitiveness, was awarded to the company Impala Terminals Huelva for the development of a new automatic sampling system on trucks. This company is located at Muelle Ingeniero Juan Gonzalo and is engaged in the loading, unloading and blending of ore, as well as logistics activities and the provision of storage and warehousing services in the Port of Huelva. This innovative project consists of the extraction and sampling of minerals by means of ten lances that are introduced into the concentrate load, which has managed to automate the system and follow complete traceability throughout the process, in addition to avoiding possible occupational accidents in the manual process. For these reasons, the jury valued the company’s commitment to innovation, which in turn has made it possible to increase the company’s production capacity.
For its part, the award for the sustainable growth initiative, destined to the business project of growth undertaken by a company associated with HuelvaPort, which in turn is respectful with the environment, has corresponded to Grupo Logístico Bernardino Abad. This company has a long history dedicated to customs and logistics management, with headquarters in Cadiz and offices in Spain and Mexico. In Huelva it began operating in 2011 with the opening of the first ferry connection Huelva-Canary Islands with the ship of Naviera Armas. In order to control all cargo and container movements so that its customers and operators know at all times the situation and status of their cargoes, controlling all the traceability of logistics, the company has developed a new department, Bernardino AbadILAB, dedicated to digitizing the company. This department has created the “Smart Container” with satellite broadcasting, which allows them to control the container from its loading at the warehouse of origin to its unloading at the warehouse of destination, including the sea crossing, broadcasting images and data.
Likewise, in its commitment to sustainability and respect for the environment, it has implemented zero paper in its facilities, as well as environmental, health, safety and quality management certificates, and has developed a corporate social responsibility strategy of collaboration with different organizations and social groups.
The implementation of a cargo traceability system, which results in energy savings by reducing the energy consumption of the containers, as well as environmentally responsible actions and its corporate social responsibility strategy have been positively assessed by the members of the jury for the awarding of the prize.
The Manuel Vega Award for Strategic and Commercial Initiative went to the company Transitex for its contribution to the diversification of the activity of the Port of Huelva. Extremadura company founded in 2002, initially with Portuguese capital and later acquired by the Turkish group Yilport, has a presence in 23 countries, mainly in Latin America and Southern Africa, with a market of 500 million consumers. Its link to the Port of Huelva lies in its commitment to promote intermodality projects, such as a railway connection between Huelva, Extremadura and Portugal, which have led to new services and an increase in the hinterland of the Port of Huelva.
The award winners received a sculpture recreating the mineral loading dock of the Rio Tinto Company, the work of the Huelva sculptor Martín Lagares.
The jury is composed of the president of HuelvaPort, Antonio Ponce, who chairs the jury, the president of the Port Authority of Huelva, Pilar Miranda, the head of the Technical Office of HuelvaPort and head of the Department of Business Development and Commercial Huelva Port Authority, Jaime Beltrán, the director of the newspaper Huelva Información, Juan Antonio Romero, the maritime captain Alejandro Andray, the head of the Provincial Unit of Customs and Excise, José Carlos Ruibaldeflores, and the secretary of the Jury and technical-commercial manager of HuelvavPort, Ana Martín.
The event was conducted by the journalist of Huelva Información, Óscar Lezameta, and the technical-commercial manager of HuelvaPort, Ana Martín.
HuelvaPort’s Board of Directors and assembly
Prior to the awards ceremony, HuelvaPort held a meeting of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly of HuelvaPort in which various matters of interest to the port community were discussed, such as the commercial actions carried out, the 2021-2022 action plan, the proposed budget for 2022, the settlement of accounts for 2020 and the monitoring of the accounts for 2021, among other topics.
In relation to commercial actions, it is expected that this year more than twenty actions will be carried out to promote the Port of Huelva and the companies of the port community.
