According to the report, the ports of Leixões and Aveiro enjoyed strong growth in tonnage, at 7.7% and 18.3% respectively, but Lisbon led the way with 23.5%, or an extra 2.1 million tons.

Sines, while still the biggest port, with 52.2% of all goods shifted nationally, saw its tonnage drop 0.9% as a result of a single huge shipment in 2016.

By contrast, Sines dominated in terms of container units, which in the first 11 months of last year were 2.76 million TEU, up 11% on the same period of 2016. Sines alone was up 14.3%, while Lisbon handled almost 39% more TEUs.

Overall in the period, Portugal’s ports registered 10,085 ships of various kinds, including cruise ships.