According to Port of Riga, during Q1 of 2019 the volume of handled cargo remained stable, reaching the 11 million tonnes. Although the volume of bulk cargo reduced by 6.1% and the volume of liquid bulk by 7.7%, the general growth wasn’t affected.
Specifically, the cargo turn over increased by 4.2% year-on-year, reaching the 2.82 million tonnes. Moreover, 1,184 cargo vessels were served at the port during the reporting period.
The handling of timber, which is the second largest freight group at the port, has been the highlight of the port’s achievements. Meaning that, in only four months, 2.1 million tonnes of timber and timber-derived products were shipped from the port, which is 31.1% more than a year ago. In addition, the volume of wood pellets has almost doubled.
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During the first quarter of this year, 0.68 million tonnes of wood pellets were shipped from the port, which is 91.7% more than in 2018. Exports of wood chips have also increased by 25.2% year on year, and the volume of general timber cargo by 12.4%. With respect to timber goods, only bulk sawnwood, the smallest category of timber goods, registered a decrease.
As usual, the container cargo was the third largest freight group in the portfolio of the port, as in Q1 of 2019, the number of handled and empty TEUs shipped via the port increased by 4.4%.
Ansis Zeltiņš, the CEO of the Port of Riga commented that the turnover of coal suffered a slight decrease in the Q1 of 2019, despite the fact that the overall volume of coal handled at the Latvian ports was 12% higher year on year, amounting to 6.9 million tonnes.
A drop in the volume of coal at the Port of Riga was expected due to adjustment and fine-tuning of technologies and equipment at the new terminal in Krievu sala. Thus, the maximum loading and unloading capacity has not yet been achieved. This, in turn, has allowed other Latvian ports to handle more.
… Mr Zeltiņš added.
