Freight volume handled at the port of Riga in January-September 2011 increased by 12.8% compared to the same period of last year, to 25.17 million tons, the Port Authority statistics said.
In Jan-Sept., petroleum products transshipments rose by 26.6 percent year-on-year, to 5.81 million tons, of coal - by 15.3 percent to 9.82 million tons. Handling of timber cargo dropped by 10.6 percent to 2.04 million tons. Shipments of chemical cargo increased by 21.3% to 1.25 million tons, of ore - down 0.4% to 472,900 tons, of wood pellets - shrank by 19.4% to 761,300 tons. The volume of building materials surged by 30.1% to 395,000 tons, of scrap metal - by 54% to 415.7 thousand tons.
Container traffic grew by 20% to 222,710 TEUs. Passenger traffic rose 11.8% to 688,260 people. Cruise vessels transported 123,218 tourists (+8.7%).
Latvia-based Free Port of Riga lies on both banks of the River Daugava (Western Dvina), The port encompasses 6.348 hectares, including 13,818-meter waterfront with berths max depths of 16 meters (ship draft - 12.2 m). Transit cargoes account for 80 percent of overall freight traffic moved to / from the CIS countries. In 2010, cargo throughput of the Port of Riga rose 2.5 percent to 30,475,000 tons.