Cargo handling at the terminals of Port of Klaipeda in January-February 2012 dropped 13.9% from 2011’s figures to 5.25 million tons, the Port Authority statistics said.
In February, cargo throughput at the port decreased by 19.5% to 2.37 million tons. Shipments of liquid bulk shrank by 18.1% to 785,900 tons, handling of suction and grab bulk cargoes slumped by 37.6% to 728,000 tons. The number of calls totaled 461 ships versus 484 ships a year earlier.
In January-February, Klaipeda port saw a 14.1-percent decline in crude oil volume to 603,300 tons.
The two-month volume of handled oil products decreased by 19.5% to 668,500 tons. Shipments of fertilizer shrank by 43.1% to 580,200 tons, of Ro-Ro cargo - by 5.3% to 368,200 tons.
Container traffic at the port dropped by 21.3% in January to 30,519 TEUs.
State-run Port of Klaipeda, the northernmost ice-free port on the East coast of the Baltic Sea, is the largest Lithuanian transport hub, connecting sea and inland traffic lanes. There are 17 stevedore companies, shipyards and other operators at the port, providing a broad range of services. In 2011, Port of Klaipeda cargo throughput rose 36 million tons from 31.27m tons a year before.