For the second consecutive year the Freeport of Riga is the leading port of the Baltics

 

In 2013 35,5 million tons of various goods were transshipped at the Port of Riga, which is 1.6% less than in the previous year. The year began with a major drop in turnover of bulk cargo segment, according to the experts it might be attributed to global trends and their impact on the price of coal in the world. At the same time, the experts predict that the Russian coal, that is being transshipped via the Port of Riga to Europe as well as to China and India, will regain competitiveness in global markets within a foreseeable period and transportation via the Port of Riga will continue to grow. At the beginning of the last year the experts predicted a substantial decline in timber transshipment, that might be attributable to the political instability in the Middle East, which reduced the demand for sawn timber, as well as by large paper plant closure in Norway and similar plans in Sweden and Finland, that had an impact on pulpwood demand.

The transit sector in general was affected by discussions related to the controversial World Bank competitiveness studies, as well as by rushed and ambiguous issue of the port charges and the state budget, which can lead to the loss of competitiveness in the future.

One more aspect, that provides a great impact on the cargo turnover in the Baltic region, is Russian policy in regards of local ports. In the framework of its implementation, the cargo flow is forwarded primarily to local Russian ports, such as Ust-Luga or Primorsk.

Despite the unfavourable external conditions investors’ activity at the port can be assessed as good. At the end of 2013 construction of mineral fertilizer handling and temporary storage terminal Riga Fertillizer Terminal was completed at the Freeport of Riga, and the terminal began its operation on December 18. The total project investment is estimated at over 60 million Euros. The vessels with fertilizers on board will leave the Port of Riga to deliver cargo to South America, China, India, Europe, Australia and many other countries. Taking into account that the operation has just started, in 2014 1,5 - 1,8 million tons of fertilizers can be handled at the terminal.

It is planned to commission a bulk cargo handling terminal Riga Bulk Terminal in 2014 as well.

In 2013 Nordea Bank Finland Plc Latvian branch together with Pohjola Bank Plc entered into a loan agreement with the aim to ensure financing for the Freeport of Riga Authority in the amount of 80,2 million EUR. Funding is provided for the development of infrastructure for implementation of the project on relocation of the port activities from Riga city center to the northern part of Krievu Island. In the framework of the said project 5 berths with a total length of 1 430 m will be constructed. Originally the projected depth at berths was 15 m, but in future it will be increased to 17 m, that is the maximum depth necessary for accommodating vessels, coming from the Baltic Sea. Construction related to Krievu Island infrastructure development is scheduled for completion in September 2014. The project is implemented with the Cohesion Fund co-financing in the amount of 54 million Lats.

2013 data analysis shows that the Port of Riga is handling 25,4 % of the Baltic ports’ market volume, and for the second consecutive year it is the leading Baltic port.

*as for Tallinn – provisional data as of 09.01.2014.

 

6.8 million tons were transshipped in the general cargo segment, that is by 2% more than last year. Due to the fact that containerized cargo of this segment is considered to be strategically important cargo type, that is affected by changes in the global cargo structure, where containerized cargo’s share is rising, it should be particularly emphasized, that there was steady increase in the containerized cargo group, and the said type of cargo maintains leading position in the general cargo segment. In 2013 3,9 million tons of containerized cargo were transshipped, which is 7.6% more than during the previous year. There was a 1,9% increase in Roll on / Roll off cargo volume, reaching the amount of 597 thousand tons. Different metals’ transshipment increased as well.

 

There was a relatively small decrease in general cargo segment related to timber handling volume (- 10.4%), but the total amount of timber cargo is still a very significant part of overall operation of the port terminals - 2 million tons of timber were transshipped.

During the reporting period 21,6 million tons of the bulk cargo segment were handled, which is 0.3% less than in 2012. In 2013 14 million tons of coal were transshipped at the Port of Riga, that is 10% less than during the previous year.

There are also positive trends – the other dry bulk segment, which includes asphalt, (sugar) beet products, wood pellets and other cargo, demonstrated growth by 21.9% (a total of 2.8 million tons). During the reporting period the volume of handled gravel (total of 1 million tons) as well as the volume of handled ore (amounted to 445 thousand tons) increased significantly at the Freeport. Although the total volume of handled wood chips decreased, as well as that of timber in the general cargo segment, there are positive trends as well - the turnover of wood chips and sawn timber has increased and during the reporting period 801 thousand tons of wood pellets (+13.8%) and 313 thousand tons of sawn timber (+15,5%) were transshipped at the port. Different metal transshipment has increased significantly (total of 472 thousand tons).

Volume of mineral fertilizers transshipment dropped to a minimum and in 2013 it reached 1,4 million tons (-0.3), nevertheless it should be regarded as a significant contribution to the total cargo turnover at the Port of Riga.

The most significant decline of cargo turnover was observed in liquid cargo (661 thousand tons, -8.5%) group, due to the fact that from the beginning of the year transshipment of oil products decreased.

A total amount of 838 thousand passengers were serviced at the port in 2013, that is by 2.8% more compared to 2012. Still, the cruise passenger numbers have fallen by 19.4%. In general 67 thousand cruise passengers visited the Port of Riga during the cruise season of 2013.