According to the statistics data for ten months of the current year the Freeport of Riga since the beginning of the year has preserved the cargo turnover growth tempo. The average volume of handled cargo per month is 3,35 million tons and the general volume handled from January till October has reached the amount of 33,57 million tons, that is by 14% more compared to ten months of the previous year.
The general volume of handled dry bulk cargo segment is 19,33 million tons, i.e. there is a 9 % increase compared to ten months of the previous year.
The largest cargo turnover growth was observed in mineral fertilizers handling. This amount has increased by almost 70% and the general amount has reached 2,07 million tons.
In terms of handled cargo the volume of coal cargo remains unmatched - this year almost 12,3million tons have been transshipped, which is by 6, 8% more than during the corresponding period of the last year.
There has been an increase of various metals (+ 27,1%) and ferro-alloy (+ 12, 9%) cargo transshipment.
A positive trend is observed in grain products group – the volume has increased 2.5-fold and exceeds 600 thousand tons.
There is a decrease in wood chips (- 16,4%) transshipment that might be attributed to the increase of the wood pellet volume, while less ore and peat cargo have been transshipped.
There is a slight decrease (- 2,8%) in the group of unspecified dry bulk cargo transshipment. Overall, 2,29 million tons of the relevant group cargo were transshipped. The volumes of crushed stone, asphalt and sugar products have decreased. At the same time, there is an increase in wood pellet and soy products’ transshipment.
5,97 million tons have been handled in the general cargo segment this year, which is an increase of 5, 9% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
More containerized cargo is being transported, which is the main cargo group of this segment. This year, there is a 6, 5% containerized freight increase compared to the previous year. At the same time the number of empty containers is reduced, which is a very positive trend.
There is a 3,2% increase in wood material transshipment - the general volume has reached 1,76 million tons. The volume of various metals transshipment almost doubled, a 2, 5-fold increase in fish product transshipment has been observed. The volume of other general cargo has increased as well, except Roll on/roll off cargo, where the decrease by 13,7% has been observed.
The total volume of transshipment within the liquid cargo segment has reached 8,26 million tons, i.e. there is a 36% increase compared to the previous year. The most important part of this segment is oil products group, which generally comprises almost 8,2 million tons.
Due to reduction of Tallink scheduled trips the number of passengers decreased by 8,7%. Overall, the Port of Riga served 662 thousand passengers.