Small businesses boost box traffic in Russia
Russia is experiencing a surge in container traffic as small and medium-sized companies increasingly turn to containers for shipping goods by rail and road, said Alexander Nazarchuk, chief executive of Global Ports Investments, the leading container terminal operator in Russia with a 30 percent market share, reported Dow Jones Newswires.
It is a "chicken and egg question" of what contributes to the improvement of the container market first: gross domestic product going up or higher container use by small and medium-sized companies, Nazarchuk said.
Containerisation has been gaining speed and the rise is expected to continue into the second quarter of 2011, he said. Meanwhile, the Russian economy is expected to reach pre-crisis levels by the fourth quarter of 2011 or the start of 2012.
The modernisation of terminals in both sea and dry ports as well as the general development of the whole infrastructure chain are the key drivers behind containerisation, Nazarchuk said.
Global Ports' gross throughput grew 71 percent to 669,000 TEUs in the first half of 2011, compared with the same period of 2010.
Earlier this year, Sergei Borisov, the head of small and medium-sized businesses lobbying association Opora Russia, said the country is aiming to double the amount small businesses contribute to GDP from 20 to 40 percent within 10 years.
It is a "chicken and egg question" of what contributes to the improvement of the container market first: gross domestic product going up or higher container use by small and medium-sized companies, Nazarchuk said.
Containerisation has been gaining speed and the rise is expected to continue into the second quarter of 2011, he said. Meanwhile, the Russian economy is expected to reach pre-crisis levels by the fourth quarter of 2011 or the start of 2012.
The modernisation of terminals in both sea and dry ports as well as the general development of the whole infrastructure chain are the key drivers behind containerisation, Nazarchuk said.
Global Ports' gross throughput grew 71 percent to 669,000 TEUs in the first half of 2011, compared with the same period of 2010.
Earlier this year, Sergei Borisov, the head of small and medium-sized businesses lobbying association Opora Russia, said the country is aiming to double the amount small businesses contribute to GDP from 20 to 40 percent within 10 years.