(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, JULY 21 - Handling of container traffic through the port of Barcelona reached more than one million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) in the first half of 2016, up 13% compared to the same period in the previous year, the port authority said.

Overall throughput through the port rose 4% in the first six months of 2016 to 24.2 million tonnes.

"The recovery process that started in 2013 has seen an acceleration, especially in 2015," the Port Authority's President Sixte Cambra told a news conference.

Exports rose by 4% while imports increased by 11%, highlighting growth in Spanish internal demand.

By countries, China remained the port of Barcelona's main trading partner. The authority said it was also experiencing growth in trade from the United Arab Emirates and the United States. (ANSAmed).

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