An archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean, at a distance of 1400 kilometres from the Iberian Peninsula, poses some very complex logistical requirements when it comes to serving a population of 2.2 million people spread over seven islands.
Over recent decades, the Rhenus Group responded to this challenge by become established as one of the main logistics operators for the transport of goods for the Canary Islands.
Rhenus’ expertise in the transport of goods for the Canary Islands goes back to 1982, when the company Tetrans began its maritime service activities between Barcelona and the islands. Since then, Rhenus has developed an extensive connectivity with this region and has deployed a transport network and its own structure of branches to provide a comprehensive logistics service to Canary Islands companies.
The entire infrastructure of the Rhenus Group in the Iberian Peninsula can be added to these assets, since in an insular and outermost territory like the Canary Islands, heavily dependent on imports from the Iberian Peninsula, logistics planning begins long before the goods arrive by sea or air. Land transportation in the Iberian Peninsula is the first step in a logistics chain that culminates again in this way to guarantee connectivity within each of the islands.
Customs management is another decisive factor requiring adaptation to the specific tax and custom requirements of the Canary Islands. The application of local taxes, such as the Canary Islands General Indirect Tax (IGIC) or the Insular Tax on the Entry of Goods (AIEM), may pose an added difficulty in logistics with the archipelago.
In this sense, and since Rhenus was founded, we have been committed to integrating the processing of these procedures into the transport and storage value chain, acting as the only interlocutor for companies throughout the entire supply chain.
Steady growth in transportation between the Canary Islands and the Iberian Peninsula
The latest data provided by the Canary Islands Statistics Institute, confirm that imports from the Canary Islands rose to a total of 21,366 million euros in 2022, which represents an increase of 41% compared to the previous year. Of this volume, up to 81.9% of the imports come from the rest of Spain, with 9.9% from the rest of the European Union.
For its part, exports from the Canary Islands rose in 2022 to 4,228 million euros, improving on the results achieved in the previous year by 48.8%: it is the Spanish autonomous community with the highest growth rate.
We are witnessing a historic period of growth in the export and import activity of companies in the Canary Islands, so logistics is an increasingly decisive element for their competitiveness," explains Andreu Gutiérrez, Country Sales Director Road of Rhenus Logistics in Spain.
"At Rhenus, we continue to bet on the Canary Islands to grow the pace of our clients, who are seeing more and more opportunities in the archipelago and the enormous potential that Africa has as a platform," says the Rhenus manager.
What services does Rhenus Group provide in the Canary Islands?
- Maritime, preferential, road and air service.
- Collections and shipments anywhere in Europe:
- Parcel, LCL, FCL.
- Services at destination:
- TRW, inter-island express and conventional parcel service, LCL and FCL.
- Controlled temperature for food and pharmaceutical sectors, with GDP's certification and thermal traceability.
- Track & Trace and digitised POD's.
- Digitalisation of payment letter and Single Administrative Document (SAD)
- IT monitoring tools.
- Fully comprehensive risk insurance.