According to data compiled by the Ministry of Transport, in the first four months of 2023 there has been a drop in the general turnover of freight handled by Latvian sea ports when compared with the same period of 2022.
At the same time, however, there is growth observed in turnover of multiple freight segments: lumber, cereals and their products, bulk freight, construction materials, wood chips and Ro-Ro cargo.
Compared with Q1 2022, there has been a drop observed in the coal and petrol product segment, which can be explained with lower demand for coal imports in Europe and the drop in turnover of petrol products after the 5th of January, when sanctions on Russian petrol products came into force.
In the current geopolitical situation
the total freight turnover at Latvian sea ports is down by 10.9%.
This is mainly because of the sanctions imposed on Russia. At the same time, sea ports are actively looking for new solutions for business development. They are working on alternative logistic chains. Sea ports are also trying to attract freight from new target markets, which does bring freight turnover growth in multiple freight segments. This is why there has been a 7.5% increase in turnover of cereals and cereal products in the first four months of 2023.
Riga Freeport handled a total of 6.8 million tonnes of freight in the first four months of 2023. There was a drop in the energy resource freight segment. The volume of cereals and their products increased by 20.6%. The turnover of general freight remains the same.
Liepaja Sea Port’s total freight turnover in Q1 2023 was 2.5 million tonnes. The sea port does see an uptake in the Ro-Ro freight segment and other specific bulk and general freight groups. In the first four months of 2023, Liepaja Sea Port’s bulk freight turnover increased by 0.2% when compared with the same period of 2022. Ro-Ro freight transports have increased by 3%, construction material freight transports have increased by 3.1%, wood chip transports have increased 11.1%, lumber freight transports have increased by 15.5%.
Ventspils Sea Port handled a total of 4.03 million tonnes of freight in four months of 2023. Despite the general drop of freight turnover, the sea port has increased the volume of cereals and cereal products by 18.7%. The turnover of lumber materials has increased by 28.1% as well.
Similarly to sea ports, the railway freight turnover is affected by the geopolitical situation. The total freight turnover in the first four months was 5.6 million tonnes.
This is a drop of 38% for the railway sector.
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