Cargo traffic at the Latvian port of Liepaja in January-October 2012 leaped by 52.6% from a year earlier to 6.015 million tons, the Port Authority said.
Shipments of grain through Liepaja terminal jumped by 2.2 times year-on-year to 2.297 million tons. Coal transshipment surged by nearly 2.1 times, to 222,000 tons. Handling of construction materials fell 2.8% to 454,400 tons. Handling of oil products shrank by 56.9% to 162,000 tons, while crude oil shipments increased by 31.9% to 115,400 tons. Timber cargo volume was up 14% to 674,800 tons.
Handling of Ro-Ro cargoes rose by 1.66 times to 24,900 units. Container throughput grew 29% to 3,450 TEUs. The number of arrivals increased by 26% to 1,513 vessels.
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 2011, Liepaja handled 4.85 million tons of cargo.