In January-July 2007, volume of container handling in Ukraine’s ports climbed by 39.7%, year-on-year, to 453,146 TEU, Ukraine’s Transport and Communications Ministry reports according to RZD-Partner. Import totaled232,392 TEU. The share of empty containers made only 0.25% of import, while the volume of loaded containers imported via the ports amounted to 231,797 TEU. Export made 220,558 TEU. 17.7% of export fell on loaded containers.
Container transshipment is carried out by three Ukrainian ports. The leader was the port of Odessa, which handled 50.9% of all container volume. The share of the port of Iljichevsk was 47.7%, Mariupol – 1.4%. The highest growth rates were demonstrated by the port of Iljichevsk - +46% or +68,308 TEU, that of Odessa - +32.1%, Mariupol - +16.9%.