Freeport of Riga strengthens its position among Baltic states’ ports
According to statistics data in regards of four months of the current year 13.4 million tons of various cargo have been handled at the Freeport of Riga , that is by 21% more than during the relevant accounting period of the previous year, the port says in its press release.
Analyzing the increase per cargo segments, it can be concluded that the highest increase of 35.9% is still being generated by the liquid cargo group. Compared to the last year 4 months oil product volume has increased by 1 million tons and reached the amount of 3.8 million tons. Oil products constitute 99.7% of the total liquid cargo segment, so the liquefied gas volume decrease (-66%) has minor impact on the total segment statistics.
General cargo transshipment via the port of Riga continues to grow, in general, handled volume has increased by 10.3%. The increased volume of containerized cargo at the port of Riga this year can be assessed as strategically significant development in the general cargo segment. 1.3 million tons of containerized cargo were handled this year, that is by 5% more compared to the relevant period of the previous year. The number of empty containers, transshipped via the port, has decreased and that is a positive trend. This might be attributed to the fact that the port terminals are increasingly offering containerization options for transshipment of a variety of cargo, in particular, timber cargo. It allows to optimize cargo transshipment ensuring access to competitive services at the port of Riga.
In addition to the general cargo segment there is growth in regards of Roll on / Roll off cargo volumes (+ 3.6%). Taking into account relatively successful performance of the general cargo segment, it should be noted that this result can be attributed to increase in various cargo groups – such as metals, food, fish and fish products, as well as chemical cargo. Total cargo turnover in the general cargo segment has reached 2.4 million tons of various cargo.
Coal cargo constitute the most important share in the dry bulk cargo , its volume compared with the previous year (4 months) has increased by 13% and amounts to 4.7 million tons. It should be noted that the coal cargo comprise about 35% of the total cargo turnover at the Freeport.
The second major type of dry bulk cargo is mineral fertilizers. Their volume increased by 39% and amounts to nearly 700 thousand tons. The considerable increase in the volume of freight might be attributed to commenced operation of the SIA Riga Fertilizer Terminal in late 2013. It is planned that the capacity of the first phase the terminal will reach 2 million tons per year.
As for the dry bulk cargo segment - handled volumes of grain and grain product increased sixfold, amounting to 317 thousand tons. Volumes of transshipped ore, peat, scrap metal, as well as crushed stone, asphalt, wood pellets , soy products increased, while transshipped volumes of wood chips decreased, currently amounting to 190 thousand tons. There is a decline in transshipment of various metals, ferroalloy and lumber, but it should be noted that the share of the mentioned cargo in total dry bulk cargo segment is only 2, 6% of the total handled cargo volume.
Due to the increased amount of the major types of cargo, the overall dry bulk segment has experienced 18% growth, which is 7.2 million tons of dry bulk cargo handled.
223 thousand passengers were served at the Freeport of Riga during the four months of the current year, which is by 7.3% more than within the same period of the previous year.