Reliability is becoming a key competitive factor for ports as global supply chains face growing uncertainty. That is the view of Ivan Jiménez, President of the Port of Bilbao, who sees resilience, connectivity and decarbonisation as central to the port’s long-term strategy. In the latest episode of CN Talks, Antonia Saratsopoulou, Managing Editor of Container News, spoke with Jiménez about Bilbao’s recent growth and future plans. The discussion covered container connectivity, rail development, port electrification and digitalisation. It also explored how Bilbao is preparing for geopolitical and climate-related disruption. According to Jiménez, the port has recorded its strongest start to a year in 22 years. Growth in liquid bulk traffic and containers has supported this performance. Container growth and greater diversification Higher liquid bulk volumes have been one of the drivers of Bilbao’s recent performance. Jiménez noted that much of the oil and gas arriving at the port comes from North and South America. Key origins include the United States, Mexico and Brazil. Container traffic has also performed strongly. According to Jiménez, Spanish ports were averaging a 1.55% decline in container traffic measured in tonnes at the time of the interview. In contrast, Bilbao was recording growth of more than 4.5%. New services and connections have contributed to that performance. In particular, Jiménez highlighted Canada and the Pacific coast of South America. Therefore, diversification remains an important part of Bilbao’s strategy. Asia is another major area of focus. Jiménez pointed to increasing cargo flows from China. He also highlighted India as a market with significant potential. As a result, improving connections with China and other Asian markets is one of Bilbao’s main connectivity objectives. For Jiménez, however, port development is not only about physical capacity. “We need to multiply every square metre of the port with th