Port Liepaja cargo volume in 2015 rose 5.9% to 5.61 million tonnes

Liepaja, Latvia based Port of Liepaja in 2015 handled 5.61 million tonnes of different cargo, which represents a 5.9% gain from 2014, the Port Authority said.

The throughput figures include 2,9 million tonnes of grain, up 5.4% year-on-year, 568,100 tonnes of construction materials (+11.2%) and 240,600 tonnes of oil products (+48%).

Container traffic at the port increased by 1.5% to 3,670 TEUs. Ro-Ro cargo traffic also increased by 1% to 33,657 units, while passenger traffic declined by 6% to 39,782 people.

Port of Liepaja was founded in the 90s of last century at the former Soviet Union’s naval base. Liepaja ranks third port of Latvia by the volume of handled cargo. Half of the port’s freight throughput is fueled by crude oil and bulk cargoes imported from the CIS countries, largely from Belorussia. In 2014, Liepaja terminals handled 5.29 million tonnes of cargo. LSEZ JSC Liepajas osta LM is the leading stevedoring company, handling more than 25% of the total throughput.