The downward trend of the freight traffic via Finland’s cargo ports is not expected to level off in the near future. Finnish Port Association CEO Matti Aura estimates that the traffic will decrease by 20 to 30 per cent this year. The foreign goods traffic fell in January by 23 per cent compared with a year before. Likewise, container traffic was reported as having declined by 26 per cent.
The weakening situation with the ports presages troubling times for the entire economy, for the volumes of export and import freight traffic reflect the direction where the national economy is heading.
Furthermore, the harbour towns lose significant income.
The figures for February have not been completed yet, but in Aura’s view there is no improvement in sight.
“A similar type of downward trend looks to continue”, he says.
According to Heikki Nissinen, the managing director of the Port of Helsinki, February looked slightly brighter than January. However, Nissinen also believes that a 20-30 per cent drop in freight figures is possible this year.
“Of course all of this is unheard of. I am not sure if this sort of decline took place even during the war years”, Nissinen says.
So far the ports have suffered particularly from the weakening of the Finnish forestry industry exports as well as the decline in through traffic to Russia.
The drying up of the flow of goods has quickly started to manifest itself in the employment figures.
According to Jouko Santala, head of the Finnish Port Operators’ Association, practically all the companies have reduced their workforce.
In Finland’s ports around 3,300 people have worked permanently in various stevedoring tasks. According to Santala, already a couple of thousand of them have been involved in co-determination talks because of temporary lay-offs and even dismissals.
Because of the crisis in the ports, even some directors have been sacked.
The board of the Port of Hamina was reshuffled in February. Last week managing director Seppo Herrala was dismissed, followed by financial director Birgitta Olsson this week.
According to the new chairman of the board Timo-Jussi Talsi, in January the port’s freight traffic was reduced by no less than 57% compared with January 2008.
Hamina’s economy is further burdened by the port operator Hamina Multimodal Terminals, which is owned by the city.
From the beginning of the year, together the companies have already accrued losses worth nearly a million euros.
The weakening situation with the ports presages troubling times for the entire economy, for the volumes of export and import freight traffic reflect the direction where the national economy is heading.
Furthermore, the harbour towns lose significant income.
The figures for February have not been completed yet, but in Aura’s view there is no improvement in sight.
“A similar type of downward trend looks to continue”, he says.
According to Heikki Nissinen, the managing director of the Port of Helsinki, February looked slightly brighter than January. However, Nissinen also believes that a 20-30 per cent drop in freight figures is possible this year.
“Of course all of this is unheard of. I am not sure if this sort of decline took place even during the war years”, Nissinen says.
So far the ports have suffered particularly from the weakening of the Finnish forestry industry exports as well as the decline in through traffic to Russia.
The drying up of the flow of goods has quickly started to manifest itself in the employment figures.
According to Jouko Santala, head of the Finnish Port Operators’ Association, practically all the companies have reduced their workforce.
In Finland’s ports around 3,300 people have worked permanently in various stevedoring tasks. According to Santala, already a couple of thousand of them have been involved in co-determination talks because of temporary lay-offs and even dismissals.
Because of the crisis in the ports, even some directors have been sacked.
The board of the Port of Hamina was reshuffled in February. Last week managing director Seppo Herrala was dismissed, followed by financial director Birgitta Olsson this week.
According to the new chairman of the board Timo-Jussi Talsi, in January the port’s freight traffic was reduced by no less than 57% compared with January 2008.
Hamina’s economy is further burdened by the port operator Hamina Multimodal Terminals, which is owned by the city.
From the beginning of the year, together the companies have already accrued losses worth nearly a million euros.