Cargo, Containers, Good for Business, Latvia, Port, Transport

Bulk cargos accounted for 7.719 mln tons of Riga port’s four-month cargo turnover, up 10.6 % against the first four months of 2016. Handling of liquid cargos fell 30.6% to 2.306 mln tons, and reloading of general cargos increased by 12.2% to 2.2 mln tons.

According to the port’s information, coal dominated the structure of cargos reloaded in the Freeport of Riga in the four months of this year. Reloading of coal increased 16.1% y-o-y to 4.676 mln tons, or 38.2% of all cargos.

Oil products made up 18.6% of all cargos handled in the port in the four-month period, followed by container cargos with 11.5%, timber with 7.8% and chemical cargos with 7.3%.

Freeport of Riga representative Vita Gerharde told that the turnover of general cargos grew primarily thanks to an increased amount of container cargos. During the first four months of this year the number of TEUs shipped through the port rose 15.2% y-o-y to 142,700. All three Riga-based stevedores handling container cargos – Baltic Container Terminal, Rigas Universalais Terminalis and Rigas Centralais Terminals – saw their cargo turnover grow in the four months of 2017. In the segment of general cargos, growth was reported in the turnover of ro-ro cargos and metal products.

Of the 2.918 mln tons of cargo reloaded in the port in April, bulk cargos accounted for 1.969 mln tons, general cargos for 525,500 tons and liquid cargos for 423,400 tons.

In the first four months of 2016, the Freeport of Riga handled 12.267 mln tons, and annual cargo turnover last year was 37.07 mln tons, down 5.5 % from 2015.

Riga is the largest Latvian port in terms of both cargo turnover and passengers.