Handling of freight at the terminals of JSC Tuapse Commercial Sea Port (TCSP) in January-March 2016 totaled 4.18 million tonnes, which 2% below last year quarter figures, the stevedoring company said.
The decline was attributed to a 9% decrease in oil cargo, to 2.26 million tonnes, as the products supplier RN-Tuapsenefteprodukt refinery was shutdown for routine maintenance between February 10 an March 15.
The port operator also reported a 5-percent drop in coal and ferrous metals, to 0.653 million and 0.553 million tonnes, accordingly. TCSP said it was due to adverse weather conditions in January and lower export shipments by major port customers. In Q1 2016 the company did not handle raw sugar and agri products from Turkey.
Handling of dry bulk cargo in the reporting period rose by 7% to 1,92 million tonnes, primarily thanks to increased grain shipments (+56%) to 0.712 million tonnes, which contributed to better first quarter results in dry bulk segment.
Exports, a lion's share of freight traffic handled at the Port of Tuapse fell 2% on the previous year and amounted to 4.14 million tonnes. In the first quarter the port operator did not handled inbound cargo at all. Coastal traffic reached 0.04 million tonnes.
In the three month period the port operator handled 160 cargo vessels, including 71 dry bulk carriers and 89 liquid bulk carriers, and 28,400 rail cars.
OJSC Tuapse Commercial Seaport (TCSP) is the major operator at the port of Tuapse, one of Russia’s largest ports. TCSP is part of UCL Port, a stevedoring division of international transport group UCL Holding. UCL Port comprises OJSC Sea Port St. Petersburg, CJSC Container Terminal Saint Petersburg, Universal Handling Terminal LLC based in North-West of Russia, and Taganrog port in the South. The Company’s fleet of handling equipment includes 28 gantry cranes with lifting capacity ranging 10 to 124 tonnes, 65 loaders and bulldozers. In 2015 cargo throughput at TCSP terminals reached 14.7 million tonnes.