Seaports of Ukraine in January-March 2019 handled 36.96 million tonnes of cargo, which is 12.43% more compared to the same period of 2018.
According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, the products of the agro-industrial complex, the mining and smelting complex, container cargoes, as well as fertilizers contributed to the upward dynamics in transshipment.
According to the authority, in January-March, the volume of transshipment of grain cargo amounted to more than 13.7 million tonnes, which is 33.5% more than the same period last year. Ore transshipment increased by more than 30% (7.8 million tonnes against almost 6 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2018). Almost 6% growth was for vegetable oil – about 1.6 million tonnes were already handled.
The growth trend in container cargo handling continues: in the first quarter of 2019, 223,500 TEU were handled, which is more than 14% higher than the same period last year.
“Since the beginning of the sowing campaign, the increase in imports of chemical and mineral fertilizers, both packaged and bulk ones, continues. The total volume of their transshipment in the first quarter of 2019 amounted to almost 640,000 tonnes, which more than twice bigger than the same figure of last year”, the authority said.
As in the first quarter of 2018, the growth in total transshipment volumes took place primarily thanks to exports, which increased by almost 5 million tonnes (a rise of 20.1%), while imports and transit, on the contrary, decreased by 6.1% and 17.2%, respectively.
In January-March, the Yuzhny port became the absolute leader in terms of cargo handling volumes – 11.6 million tonnes, which is almost 19% more than in the same period of 2018. The figure of 8 million tonnes was exceeded by the port of Mykolaiv: in general, the transshipment volume here reached 8.12 million tonnes, which is more than 26% more than the same period last year. Over three months, the ports of Chornomorsk and Odesa handled over 6 million tonnes of cargo: 6.37 million tonnes and 6.22 million tonnes, respectively.
Since the beginning of 2019, Ukrainian seaports handled 2,838 vessels, which are 15 units less than in January-March 2018.
Some 1,370 passengers used services of water transport in the ports over the period (33% more than a year ago).
