A total of 3.4 million tons of cargo were handled in Latvia’s ports in June 2022, which is a decrease of 228.8 thousand tons or 6% compared to May, according to operational data compiled by the Ministry of Transport.
Whereas cargo turnover reached 23.58 million tons in Latvia’s ports in the first half of the year, which is an increase of 15.2%, or 3.10 million tons of cargo compared to 2021.
Minister of Transport Tālis Linkaits has commented that the increase in port turnover has mainly been ensured by transit cargo from Kazakhstan, especially coal cargo, and, taking into account the geopolitical situation, cooperation with Kazakhstan will be essential in the future to ensure the successful operation of the Latvian railway system. The direction of cargo turnover dynamics will be evaluated in the second half of the year in aggregate, observing the impact of the sanctions against Russia and Belarus.
Data shows that cargo flows of oil products and chemical bulk cargo continued to decrease due to sanctions in June.
In the first five months of the year, 4.4 million tons of coal were handled in the big ports, which is an increase of 20.6 times compared to the same period last year. However, the 577.7 thousand tons of coal handled in June is a decrease of 6% compared to May. The most coal was handled in the Port of Riga in May, that is, 464.7 thousand tons, followed by the Port of Ventspils with 113 thousand tons of coal handled.
Although the amount of cargo of oil products transhipped in June increased by 4% compared to May, it has decreased by 16% compared to last year - a total of 3.8 million tons of oil products were transhipped in five months of the year.
In their turn, the quantity of containerised cargo has increased in the first six months of this year, reaching 2.4 million tons, which is an increase of 16.6% compared to 2021, while the ro-ro cargo turnover has reached 1.9 million tons, which, compared to 2021, is an increase of 17.5%.
The total turnover of railway cargo in the 6 months of this year has reached 12.2 million tons, which, compared to 2021, is an increase of 17.6%. The growth in railway transportation was ensured by the transport of coal cargoes originating in Kazakhstan. The turnover of loads of oil products transported by rail decreased to 2.16 million tons, which is a drop of 35% during the year. In its turn, the turnover of grain cargoes reached 2.03 million tons, which was an increase of 11% compared to 2021.
Cargo turnover with Russia continues to decrease for several months, but cargo turnover with Belarus remains insignificant. On the other hand, the volume of cargo from Kazakhstan increased by 72 times during the year. While “LDZ Cargo” transported 34 thousand tons of cargo from Kazakhstan in the first six months of last year but already 2.46 million tons of cargo from this country in the same period this year.