The ports loaded almost normally - Newspaper Kommersant No. 146 (7347) of 08/12/2022
The cargo turnover of the seaports of the Russian Federation is kept at the level of the previous year, showing a decrease of only 0.2%. The largest share drop is observed in the Caspian due to a decrease in the transshipment of liquid cargo. In the largest basins - the Far East and the Baltic - the decrease in cargo turnover amounted to 0.9% and 0.6%, respectively. Moreover, if in the Far East the underloading of ports is explained by a chronic shortage of railway capacity, then in the Baltic the situation looks even better than it could, given Europe's refusal to accept Russian cargo. According to analysts, the reason is the supply of coal through the ports of the North-West to the markets of the Asia-Pacific region, Turkey and Africa.
The cargo turnover of Russian ports in January-July decreased by 0.2% compared to last year, amounting to 482 million tons, the Rosmorrechflot. At the same time, the volume of dry cargo transshipment decreased by 5.1%, to 225.8 million tons, while liquid cargo increased by 4.5%, to 256.2 million tons. The backlog from last year has narrowed: in the first half of the year it was 0.5%, in January-April - 2%.
According to the results of seven months, the cargo turnover of the ports of the Arctic basin increased by 3.3%, this indicator increased by 0.3% in the Azov-Black Sea basin. The cargo turnover of the ports of the Caspian Basin sank most deeply - the fall reached 27.5% (up to 3.1 million tons). The main culprit for the fall of Rosmorrechflot calls the transshipment of liquid cargo, reduced by 40.1% to 1.4 million tons.
The cargo turnover of the ports of the Far East basin fell by 0.9% to 131.2 million tons. Nadezhda Malysheva from Portnews says that the most urgent problem is the delivery of goods through the Russian Railways network to the ports of the Far East, noting that some large coal ports in the region are now only half the capacity due to a shortage of carrying capacity through the network.
835.2 million tons
amounted to the cargo turnover of Russian seaports in 2021.
In February, Irina Olkhovskaya, Director for Port and Railway Projects of the UMMC, noted that at the end of 2021, the capacity utilization of the specialized coal terminal "Vostochny Port" was 46% - 26.3 million tons with a processing capacity of 55 million tons, and losses from underloading transshipment capacities for three years amounted to 86.5 million tons. According to her, there is a surplus of capacities of coal terminals in all directions of coal export, in particular, in the North-West in 2021 it amounted to 31.6 million tons, in the South - 34.8 million tons, and most of all in the Far East - 74 million tons, where ports are only 56% loaded.
In the Baltic basin, cargo turnover "decreased symbolically" by 0.6%, to 143.6 million tons, while the volume of dry cargo transshipment fell by 7.1%, to 56.3 million tons, and liquid cargo increased by 14.1% , up to 87.3 million tons.
The cargo turnover in the North-West is affected by the loss of Western bulk markets due to sanctions, as well as the fading of the container market after failure large container hubs and international lines to work with Russia.
Director General of Delo Management Company Dmitry Pankov predicted a 90–95% drop in container turnover by the end of the year (see chart). "Kommersant" dated April 12), in May the decrease was 60%, in June it was 85% (see Fig. "Kommersant" dated June 17).
In the Northwest, Nadezhda Malysheva notes, cargo turnover is supported by coal, and despite Europe's ban on Russian coal imports since August 10, deep-water ports such as Murmansk and Ust-Luga are now sending or starting to ship Capesize to China and India, and smaller ports - Panamax to Turkey and Africa. The very small ports of the North-West, such as Vyborg, where large stockpiles of coal have now formed, may, she suggests, reorient deliveries to Kaliningrad, replacing the drop-out transportation by rail.