Grain cargo helped Ukrainian seaports break the six years’ transshipment record

According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA),  Ukrainian ports have increased the cargo transshipment by 129.8 mln t over the 10 months of 2019, which is 20% more than the last year. This is the maximum positive transshipment dynamics over the past 6 years.

“The positive transshipment dynamics has reached a record 20% due to good harvests of the past and current marketing years, high ore prices in the world market, and effective interaction between the USPA and stevedoring companies,” comments the CEO of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Administration Raivis Veckagans.

He states that Mariupol has regained its status of the leading port for transshipment, which it has lost for five years. Currently, the USPA is completing a large-scale dredging project there. In general, the USPA has invested in dredging and port infrastructure of all the five ports that account for over 90% of transshipment this year.

According to the reports, the volumes of the current transshipment drivers — grain and ores — have grown by more than a third. So, over the ten months, the seaports have handled 43.6 mln t of grain cargo, which is 37% more than during the same period last year.

Of all the Ukrainian ports, five ports have become the transshipment leaders, having processed over 90% of the total cargo volume in the past ten months:

• Pivdenny — over 43.8 mln t (28.3% compared to the last year);
• Mykolaiv — over 26.9 mln t (20%);
• Chernomorsk — over 21.1 mln t (23.2%);
• Odesa — over 20.7 mln t (19.4%);
• Mariupol (on the Sea of Azov) has managed to overcome the decline in transshipment, which lasted for almost 5 years, and already transshipped over 5.3 mln t (5.5%).

As reported before, for the first time in six years, the Mariupol Sea Port has handled sorghum and barley, a rare cargo for this sea port.