Facility for handling mineral fertilizers put into operation at BMEP terminal in the port of Saint-Petersburg
The terminal currently handles mostly Belorussian cargo
A facility for handling mineral fertilizers has been put into operation at the sea terminal of Baltic Marine Engineering Plant (BMEP, port of Saint-Petersburg). In the future, the facility will have annual capacity of 10 million tonnes. As Yevgeny Savkin, General Director of stevedoring company BMEP, told IAA PortNews, private investments into the terminal modernization in will exceed RUB 5 billion in 2023 including RUB 1.5 billion already spent for the project.
The implementation of the project on creation of a complex for handling mineral fertilizers began in October 2022. It took less than a year to put into operation two turns of the project. As of today, the terminal occupying 11 hectares has 5 internal railway tracks linked by a 2.4-km railway branch to the Avtovo station.
Four berths the reconstruction of which will continue in 2024 are able to load vessels with a draft exceeding 9 meters. To enhance the loading volumes, BMEP uses the habour of the rented Lesnoy Mol where ships with a draft of over 11 meters can be handled.
The terminal currently handles mostly Belorussian cargo. In the future, the share of mineral fertilizers from Belarus can decrease to 25-30% with Russian producers to account for the bulk f the volumes, Yevgeny Savkin believes. As of today, mineral fertilizers are exported from BMEP to China, India, Indonesia and Brazil.
According to the estimated of BMEP General Director, the terminal will handle a total of 4 million tonnes of mineral fertilizers in 2023. In 2024, it is to be increased to 8 million tonnes with the design throughput of 10 million tonnes to be reached later.
Protos contributed by BMEP
