Global Ports Container Turnover Down 53.6% in Q4 2022

The consolidated container turnover of the sea terminals of the operator Global Ports in 2022 decreased by 37.1% compared to 2021, the company’s press service reported. In the fourth quarter of last year, the volume fell by 53.6% to 179,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit).

AT press release Global Ports notes that as a result of a significant reduction in the number of ship calls of key container lines to Russian ports, not only in the container market in the Baltic Sea, but also at the group’s terminals in the region, the turnover of containers has significantly decreased, which affected the results of 2022.

According to the results of 2022, the container turnover amounted to 992 thousand TEU, which is 37.1% less than in 2021. In the fourth quarter, the total container turnover of sea terminals decreased to 179 thousand TEU (-53.6% compared to the same period in 2021).

At the same time, the container turnover of ports in the Far East basin, in particular at the Eastern Stevedoring Company (VSC) terminal, which is part of the group, has grown due to the restructuring of supply chains from European to Asian routes, the company explained.

Throughput at VSC in the fourth quarter of 2022 was increased to 167 thousand TEU (+31.6%). Container turnover in 2022 increased by 20.1% compared to 2021, to 624,000 TEU, which was a record high in the history of the terminal.

Against the backdrop of Global Ports using free container capacity and terminal infrastructure to attract non-container business, the company’s consolidated bulk cargo turnover increased by 13.7% last year, to 3.6 million tons. In the fourth quarter, the figure increased by 62.3% to 1.3 million tons.

According to Global Ports, there are no grounds for the market to recover to 2021 volumes this year. Nevertheless, the company notes the growing interest of customers in the entry of container ships into the Baltic basin, as well as high demand in the Far East market.

Milena Kostereva