Finland’s HaminaKotka cargo traffic down 9.7 percent
Freight flows passing through the combined port of HaminaKotka of Finland in January-August 2012 shrank by 9.7% year-on-year to nearly 9.7 million tons, the Port Authority statistics said.
Eight-month volume of exports fell 9.1%, imports dropped by 11%. In the reporting period, the port saw a 22.3-percent growth in transit cargo volumes and a 11.5% gain in inland trade.
HaminaKotka container throughput rose 5.2%.
In August cargo shipments through the port increased by 6.4% to 1,383,101 tons. Monthly container traffic was 58,657 TEUs. The port’s Ro-Ro terminal handled 10,174 vehicles.
The Finnish ports Kotkan Satama Oy and Haminan Satama Oy merged under a new name on May 1, 2011. As a result, the HaminaKotka has turned into the largest export port of the country. In 2011, cargo throughput at the port rose 2.3% year-over-year to 16.05 million tons.
Kotka is located some 50 kilometers from the Russian Federation border, 280 km off St. Petersburg, 1000 km from Moscow. Port of Kotka comprises ports of Mussalo, Hietanen, Kantasatama, berth Puolanlaituri (Polish berth), berth Halla, and also port premises Sunila. In 2010, the port of Kotka handled about 9,2 million tons.
Port of Hamina is the eastern port of Finland located 35 km from the Russian border. In 2010, cargo throughput of the port totaled 3.6 million tons.