Coal port operator JSC Vostochny Port handled in January-October of this year 18,489,000 tonnes of coal, which represents a 23.6% gain on the same period last year, the stevedore company's press service said.
The 18-millionth tonne mark was hit only in 2012 following the 2012 performance.
Vostochny Port's Managing Director Anatoly Lazarev comments: "This is a result of the huge long-term work for renovation and upgrade of our equipment and improvement of warehousing logistics at the handling and production facilities."
In October, overall 488,900 tonnes of coal were exported through the Universal Handling Terminal. For the past ten month the UHT handled 3,8 million tonnes, or a 38.6% surge from the same period a year before.
Another facility, Specialized Coal Terminal handled in the ten-month period nearly 14,7 million tonnes of the commodity (+20.2%).
SC Vostochny Port is the major stevedoring company of Russia specializing in coal transshipment. As of today, export coal (mainly coal mined in Kuzbass) accounts for 98.5% of the company’s turnover with 1.5% of the coastal trade coal and 0.01% of other cargoes. The company’s assets include a Specialized Coal Terminal with conveyer equipment system and railcar unloading station and a Universal Handling Terminal which specializes in clamshell coal handling. The Terminals’ annual capacities are 14.2 mln tonnes and 3 mln tonnes respectively. In 2012, Vostochny Port commenced the construction of the Third phase of the Coal Terminal. Managing Port Company LLC is the sole executive body of Vostochny Port OJSC.