Every year, the Freeport of Riga Authority evaluates the performance of the port companies in the previous year and gives awards to the best in several nominations. The 2018 Freeport of Riga award in the Most Rapid Growth nomination was presented to SIA Extron Baltic, which has grown from a very small stevedore operator into a major player in the Port and is closing in on the top 10 cargo terminals in the Port. In 2018, the amount of cargo passed through the terminal exceeded the threshold of half a million tons. Moreover, the company’s growth has been steady since 2010. During that time, the company has become the largest handler of general cargo.
Presenting the award, Ansis Zeltiņš, CEO of the Freeport of Riga, said: “These companies, despite geopolitics and other market fluctuations, keep moving forward and make an invaluable contribution to the overall growth of the Port inspiring and acting as an example for the rest of the port businesses.”
Extron Baltic is the largest metal product handler in the Port of Riga and one of the main niche players in the Baltic region. Metal is a product that is not shipped out of Riga, but is imported here. Most of the cargoes come by sea from Russia and then go overland to customers in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and even Poland.
Jevgeņijs Šafarevičs, Executive Director of Extron Baltic, explained the foundation of the company’s success: “Factors that facilitate growth are steady market demand for metal products and effective work of our terminal, which allows handling these cargo volumes. At the same time, our customers can send their cargoes through our terminal thus boosting their metal product turnover in the Baltic region.”
The 13 hectare site managed by Extron Baltic used to be a concrete structure production facility. Its infrastructure, i. e. buildings and spacious warehouses, turned out to be perfectly suited for metal products. Railway access is very important, too. It allows the company to handle grain and other bulk freights in addition to metal products. “Access by railway is a precondition for being in this game. If we talk about bulk freight, all transit cargoes come by railway only without any exceptions,” added Jevgeņijs Šafarevičs.
The company also thinks about its further development. Half a million tons of transferred cargoes is close to the maximum capacity of the terminal, but next to ExtronBaltic on the left bank of the River Daugava there are 40 hectares of undeveloped land. Jevgeņijs Šafarevičs mentioned that together with other port companies they are considering their options to develop that plot of land.