Russian seaports’ cargo volumes up 5.2 percent
Cargo traffic at Russian seaports in January-September, 2012 totaled 419.59 million tons, a 5.2-percent gain from the same period last year, the Association of Seaports report said.
The nine-month volume of dry bulk cargo grew 9.6% reaching 188.4 million tons. The increase was driven mainly by a 10.3% growth (65.5 mln tons) in coal exports, a 8.7-percent gain (31.8 mln mt) in containerized cargoes, a 9.2-percent increase (20.1 mln mt) in ferrous metals volume. Grain shipments totaled 18.4 million tons, ferries cargo traffic rose 12.5% to 6.1 mln mt, handling of non-ferrous metals rose 5.0% to 3.2 million tons. Shipments of timber cargo climbed 1.7% to 4.6 million tons, scrap metal exports rose 8.5% to 2.9 mln mt. Mineral fertilizer volume dropped by 12.2% y-o-y to 8.1m tons, shipments of iron ore fell 12.2% to 5.4m tons. Unitized cargo shipments fell 9.9% to 4.1m tons, refrigerated cargo volumes were down 18.9% to 2.7m tons.
Shipments of liquid bulk through the nation’s ports totaled 231.5 million tons, which represents a 1.9% gain from a year earlier, including 146.3 million tons of crude exports (+0.1%) and 83.3 million tons of oil products (+4.3%).
In the reporting period the Russian ports saw a year-over-year 9.2-percent growth in exports, to 331.4 million tons. Imports dropped 2.7% from last year’s numbers, to 33.2 million tons, primarily due to fewer volumes of sugar, unitized and reefer cargoes. Handling of transit cargo was down to 32.8 million tons (-12.7%), short sea traffic volume fell 5.6% to 22.5 million tons following a decline in crude exports. But, there was a 10.9% growth in dry bulk cargo carried by coastal vessels, to 14.2 million tons.
In the reporting period, stevedore companies of the Arctic basin handled 27.9 million tons of cargoes, which represent a 12.9% decline from January-September 2011. Shipments of dry bulk cargo grew 10.0% to 18.3 million tons. Freight flows passing through the port of Arkhangelsk rose by 23.6% to 4.1 mln tons, cargo traffic at Dudinka port climbed 2.4% to 800,000 tons. Cargo handling at the port of Murmansk fell 16.1% to 16.8 mln tons, Vitino port’s throughput decreased by 13.7% to 2.8 mln tons, exports volume passing through Varandey terminal slumped by 1.7 times, to 1.9m tons, Kandalaksha port handled 500,000 tons (-19.4%).
In January-September, the Baltic Sea-based Russian ports moved 153.8 million tons of different cargoes, up 11.2% from the last year’s figure, including 56.5 million tons of dry bulk cargo (+6.5%), 97.3 million tons of liquid bulk (+14.1%). Cargo throughput at Primorsk terminal was up 2.1% to 57.3 million tons. Port of Ust-Luga traffic soared 2.1 times to 33.1 million tons, thanks to coal exports growth and commissioning of new oil terminals. Port of Vyborg handled 1 million tons (+36.4%). Big Port St. Petersburg cargo volumes fell 3.5% to 43.4 million tons, cargo shipments through the port of Kaliningrad dropped 9.8% to 9.3 million tons, Port of Vysotsk transshipped 9.6 million tons (-6.8%).
Handling of exports / imports at the ports of Azov-Black Sea basin in the reporting period totaled 131.2 million tons (+3.3%). Dry bulk cargo volume rose 15.4% to 51.7 million tons, while liquid bulk traffic was down 3.3% to 79.5 million tons. Cargo throughput at the Port of Novorossiysk totaled 88.9 mln tons, up 2.6% from a year earlier. The port of Taman cargo volumes surged 1.9 times to 1 mln tons. Shipments of cargo at the port of Rostov-on-Don increased by 18.9% to 8.4 million tons. Trade flows passing through the port of Kavkaz grew 11.1% to 6.8 million tons. Port of Azov nine-month throughput rose 16.1% to 3.8 million tons. Port of Yeysk saw a 2.1% decline year-on-year, to 2.7 million tons, cargo traffic at the port of Tuapse shrank by 4.5% to 13.4 tons, at the port of Temryuk – by 15.1% to 1.6 million tons.
The Caspian Sea-based Russian ports transshipped 8 million tons, a 6.1-percent gain year-on-year, including dry bulk cargo - 3.7 million tons (-4.5%), liquid bulk – 4.3 million tons (+17.4%). Freight traffic at the port of Astrakhan fell 19.4% to 2.5 million tons. The port of Makhachkala cargo volumes rose 21.3% to 4.8 million tons. Handling of loads at the port of Olya increased by 1.5 times to 600,000 tons.
In January-September, the ports of the Far Eastern basin saw a 5.2-percent gain in cargo volumes to 99.1 million tons. Shipments of dry bulk cargo rose 8.7% to 58.2 million tons, liquid bulk traffic was up 0.5% to 40.9 million tons. Vostochny port moved 31.0 million tons of cargo (+5.8%), the port of Prigorodnoye - 12.2 million tons (+1.6%). Stevedore companies of the Port of Nakhodka handled 12.6 mln tons (+12.9%). The Port of Vladivostok saw a 13.2-percent growth to 10.0 mln tons. Cargo traffic at the port of Posiet was up 9.3% to 4.4 mln tons. Port Vanino throughput rose 2.7% to 14.8 million tons. The port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky handled 1.7 mln tons of different cargoes (+0.8%), the port of Shakhtersk – 1.3m tons (+6.8%), the port of Korsakov – 1.1m tons (+3.8%) and the port of Magadan – 1 million tons (+15%). Cargo throughput at the port of Kholmsk totaled 1.5 mln tons (-6.1%). Cargo shipments via the port of De Kastri dropped by 10.7% to 5.5 million tons. The port of Olga freight volume was down 4.9% to 1.1 mln tons.
Association of Commercial Sea Ports (ASOP) was founded in 1987. Currently ASOP unites more than 50 Russian organizations and enterprises of maritime transport. The Association includes commercial sea ports, forwarding and agency companies, research institutes and maritime transport schools. The outcome data of the Russian port complex is based on statistical reports, covering all stevedoring companies operating in the country. Complete statistics is presented in the quarterly report of ASOP "Cargo traffic at the ports of Russia, CIS and Baltic countries."