In the first quarter of 2022, handling of import cargoes in Russian seaports rose by 8.1%, year-on-year. In particular, handling of containerized cargo increased by 7.3%, Morcenter TFC says on its official Telegram channel.
Six countries accounted for two thirds of the cargo flow: South Korea, China, Turkey, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. The growth of imports from China was the highest – 99.7%, imports from Germany rose by 80.5%, from S. Korea – by 24.9%. Meanwhile, the decrease was registered in cargo flow from Belgium (-36.5%), Turkey (-6.2%) and the Netherlands (-5.4%).
The share of containerized cargo in imports made 61.3%. Although only one month of the first quarter was affected by anti-Russia restrictions imposed by unfriendly countries, the Netherlands and Belgium decreased the flow of containerized cargo to Russia by 8.6% and 35.2% accordingly. The decrease in trade with Turkey (-5.2% of containerized cargo) should be evidently attributed to the problems of shipping in the Black Sea due to the conflict in Ukraine.