English
The monthly amount of cargo, handled by the Freeport of Riga in April, continued to grow and 3.15 million tons of cargo were handled at the port, which is by 6% more than in March. Positive indicators have been maintained in passenger transport segment and during the first four months of the current year the port was visited by 145.7 thousand passengers, which is by 12.8 thousand passengers more than during the corresponding period of 2015.
The Freeport of Riga Board Chairman Mr. Andris Ameriks: “April data show that the port’s operation stability is not in danger and no turmoil is expected. We continue our work with the aim to attract new customers and diversify cargo types at the port. Currently much attention is paid to countries such as China and India, the economic operators from those countries might become our partners in the near future”.
The results of the first months of the current year show that our forecasts for the Riga port cargo volumes in 2016 were accurate, they were based on a thorough market research and economic data analysis. The current fluctuations in cargo turnover can be attributed to several factors, resulting from situation in the international markets.
The Freeport of Riga Board Chairman: “First of all - a warm winter, which significantly affected the demand for energy in the European markets. Thus, the volumes of oil products and coal transshipped via the port of Riga decreased. Second factor - vessel charter rates have decreased dramatically, which will undoubtedly affect the flow of goods in the global perspective. Russian cargo, which until now was delivered via the port of Riga, is currently being re-routed to the Russian ports. Marine transport have become so cheap that there is no need to look for the nearest foreign port.”
During the first four months of 2016 the Riga port handled 12.3 million tons of various cargos, which is by 1.8 million tons or 12.8% less compared to the corresponding period of 2015.
Within four months of 2016 6.98 million tons of bulk cargo, by 12.6% less than during the same time period of 2015. A volume decline in dry bulk segment is still largely attributable to the decrease in the flow of coal cargo (4.0 million tons.; -22.2% or -1.1 million tons). In the first quarter of the year overall amount of Russian coal cargo, transshipped via the Baltic Sea ports, decreased (-16.6%). By contrast, growth was registered in dry bulk segment, namely, in regards of cereals (+ 38.3%), wood chips (+ 37.8%), wood pellets (+ 19.4%), as well as soy products (+ 52.9%). Chemical bulk cargo turnover during the reporting period was maintained at the level of 2015 indicators and even increased slightly (+ 1.0%).
3.32 million tons of liquid cargo (-15.0% or -0.59 million tons) were handled at the port during four months of 2016. Oil products account for 99.5% (3.3 million tons) of total liquid cargo volume and their amount decreased by 14.7% during the reporting period. A drop in turnover can largely be attributed to a shift of freight flows to the Russian ports.
The only segment of the cargo at the port of Riga, which is affected by political decisions more than by market forces is a container cargo segment. The reduction in this segment is related to both the imposition of sanctions, and the Russian ruble depreciation as well as to the import-substitution policy in Russia. 1.96 million tons of cargo were handled in general cargo segment during the reporting period, which is by 9.5% less compared to 2015. The largest (65%) and strategically the most important part of the general cargo at the port of Riga is container cargo. Therefore, the fact that the amount of the containerized cargo, handled in April 2016, exceeded the turnover of April 2015 by 5.5% shall be evaluated as the very positive one. In general, during the first four months of the current year 1.28 million tons of containerized cargo were handled at the port.
The detailed statistics on cargo turnover at the Freeport of Riga is provided at: http://rop.lv/lv/par-ostu/statistika.html
