Freight volume handled in the Port of Liepaja, Latvia between in January and August 2016 declined by 0.4%, year-on-year, to 3,353,000 tonnes, the Port Authority told IAA PortNews.
In the reporting period grain shipments rose 5.3% to 1,572,600t, construction materials – down 16.7% to 329,200 t, timber – down 37.8% to 227,900 t, crude oil – up 9.2% to 36,400 t, oil products – up 3.9% to 180,600 t.
Container traffic shrank by 37% to 1,352 TEUs. Ro-Ro cargo fell by 14% to 21,000 units. Passenger traffic decreased by 20% to 23,422 people.
The number of ship calls was down 4% from the same period of 2015 to 863 units.
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 handled cargo volume. Half of the port’s cargo throughput is fueled by crude oil and bulk cargoes imported from the CIS countries, largely from Belorussia. In 2015, throughput of Liepaja port was 5.61 million tonnes.