Investors to amend plans

The crisis has brought a number of changes to the projects of new port terminals in Russia. Volume of investments has been reduced, project implementation period rescheduled. However, a large number of investment projects, that are on the early stage of implementation, have been worked out at the present moment, the most interesting of which are planned to be carried out in the Kaliningrad region, the port of Taman, Tuapse, and others. 

Stevedores of themselves

Residents of special economic zone in Kaliningrad, BaltTehProm LLC and it’s affiliate JSC Alco-Nafta have decided not to rely on the existing stevedores of port of Kaliningrad and create their own maritime port complex for handling of PET- granulate, produced by enterprises. In the perspective the complex can also be equipped with berths for receiving rolling cargo.

 

By 2016 BaltTehProm plans to establish multi-field sea port in the Kaliningrad region within the framework of Baltic industrial park. As Viktor Larin, executive director of "BaltTehProm" reported at the conference "Port infrastructure of the North-West: from design to operation", the port will include a container terminal with capacity up to 880 thousand TEUs per year. Alternatively, the use of part of the port territory for Ro-Ro berths is considered. 

 

The port is meant for cargo handling, that is provided by products of factory BaltTehProm and Alco-Nafta JSC ( the owner of these companies is the chairman of the board of the Marisky Refinery, Alexei Mileev) in the volume of 220 thousand tons of PET granulate per year. It is also planned to arrange transshipment of petrochemical goods in the future.

The volume of investments in port projects make up 15-20 million euros, 60-70% of which - the investor's own funds. 

The terminal is designed to receive vessels with deadweight of up to 20 tons all year round. 

In 2010 it is planned to work out the design and construction documents and begin construction, in 2013 - to bring into operation the first terminals, in 2017 – to start work at full capacity. 

Financial advisor of the project - Deutsche Bank. Technical advisor - company Hamburg Port Consulting. 

BaltTehProm is a resident of special economic zones and industrial investor in the establishment of the Baltic industrial park. 

According to Viktor Larin, the company decided not to apply to operating stevedore Kaliningrad Commercial Sea Port in order not to depend on outside couterparties, because the port complex will be oriented on its own cargo base. 

It is assumed that most of the products will be exported, about 40% - in Russia. 

Noteworthy, the port of Kaliningrad is really having trouble, primarily because of the railroad rates, as PortNews IAA reported in the section Relevant Topic from October 21, 2009 

On the other hand, there is a project of container port hub construction in Kaliningrad region. 

The problem for the existing stevedoring companies lies in the fact that the maritime transport of the Kaliningrad region is inextricably linked with the railway: about 90% of goods are imported into Kaliningrad port by rail from the main part of Russia through the territory of foreign states. 

BaltTehProm Precedent is newsworthy, because cargo base is created directly in the Kaliningrad region, a resident of the SEZ. In case of project success, it may push other investors to place their factories in the areas where their own transshipment facilities can be established. 

According to Dmitry Baranov, leading expert of UK Finam Management, the company decided to arrange its own port complex, it means it was not satisfied with the way the goods are handled and shipped by the existing stevedores.

"Another possible reason is the need to guarantee the best conditions for storage and handling of non-standard cargo, it is possible that the existing stevedores could not provide it. And the third reason may be that the company expects to make out of this complex an independent business by offering its terminal to other Russian chemical producers who strive to export their own products”, - the expert believes.

However, according to Dmitry Baranov, the large scale construction of such facilities is not expected. "Not everyone could afford it, not everyone wants it. Nevertheless, there may be residents who are ready to create their own similar systems because of dissatisfaction with the performance of the existing terminals ", - says the analyst.

"In general, the investment environment in the area can be called moderate, investment risks are low. Despite the fact that the regime of free economic zone is in power, this sphere is not that attractive because of the exclave position. Distance from Russia, and low availability of transportation also reduces the attractiveness of the region for investors. However, the region is full of free workforce, that partially brings back its investment attractiveness ", - Dmitry Baranov explained to PortNews IAA.

 

Tuapse to add oil products

Tuapse terminal of Rosneft is located in the immediate vicinity of Tuapse Refinery. According to company data, the capacity of the terminal makes up to 10.2 million tones of petroleum products per year. The terminal is used for export of petroleum products produced at Tuapse and Samara refinery of Rosneft Oil Company, and can substantially increase the effectiveness of sales of the company.

Capacity of the terminal is planned to grow to 17 million tones per year, which will allow dealing with export flows of Tuapse refinery smoothly, production volume of which will increase significantly as soon as the reconstruction is completed.

Additionally, according to market participants, since 2011 transshipment of oil products can be carried out at the berth 1a and 1b, including 3 million tons of industrial fuel oil, 3 million tons of diesel fuel and 1 million tons of gasoline.

 

Taman to add grain 

Food Ingredients LLC plans to build by mid-2014 a grain terminal in the port of Taman with a capacity to 9 million tons per year. The project is implemented at the sector (3.2 ha) owned by   company in the port of Taman. Transshipment complex will include a grain silo, approaching trestle with transporter for grain shipment and deep grain berths with boot towers. 

The first phase of the project is planned to be implemented in the fourth quarter of 2010, output at full capacity is meant for mid-2014. Designed capacity of the complex makes up 5 million tons with a potential to increase to 9 million tons per year. 

The project includes extension of the approaching trench, its expansion and construction of two more grain berths with the approach towers that are designed for vessels with deadweight up to 40 tons. 

Factory of Food Ingredients LLC is located on the territory of the new Russian Black Sea port of Taman, and is the first stage of production and logistics complex of Efco company.

 

 

Vitaly Chernov