Cargo throughput at the Free Port of Riga in January-May 2012 increased by 11.6% compared to the same period last year, to 15,718,600 tons, the Port Authority statistics said.
Coal shipments rose 19.6% to 6.48 million tons, oil products volume was up 3.2% to 3.77 million tons, handling of wood pellets increased by 10.5% to 461,400 tons, shipments of scrap metal grew 4.8% to 265,900 tons. Exports of timber cargo decreased by 15.6% to 966,700 tons, the five-month volume of ore plummeted by 69.7% to 93,900 tons, handling of building materials fell 54.8 % to 41,300 tons.
In the reporting period, container traffic grew by 22.9% 144,695 TEUs. Passenger traffic increased by 8.8% to 283,403 people, including 14,938 tourists carried by cruise ships (+75.5%).
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 2011, cargo throughput at the Port of Riga rose 11.8 percent year-over-year to 34.07 million tons.