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  • 2011 October 23

    Managing Director of Delta Shipping Agency in St. Petersburg Kirill Ivanov: "many companies engaged in foreign trade demonstrate wait-and-see position

    There are major container terminals operating in the northwest of Russia with new ones under construction.

     

    In a recent interview with PortNews Managing Director of Delta Shipping Agency in St. Petersburg Kirill Ivanov shared the container operator’s vision on container market of Russia’s North-West, and the company's plans.

     

     

    - Cyril, what St. Petersburg-based container terminals is Delta Shipping working with?

     

    - We are currently working with such terminals, as First Container Terminal, Petrolesport and Fourth Stevedoring Company. This year we launched a new service from Poland’s Gdansk to St. Petersburg, and recently expanded a service from the UK northern ports of Teesport and Grangemouth
    - This autumn, UL Container Terminal (ULCT) is scheduled for commissioning at the port of Ust-Luga. Does Delta Shipping plan calls to the terminal?

     - We could consider calls at the new Ust-Luga container terminal if the customs ease customs control procedures for transit goods imported from Europe between ULCT and Big Port St. Petersburg, since we it is not possible to ensure separate full-laden boxship calls only to the new terminal.

     

    On September 21st the Federal Customs Service published an order, which allows shipments of containers from the port under a simplified customs procedure for transit cargo if the carrier at the moment of ship arrival can provide documents: the cargo manifest and B/L. The order is effective one month after its publication.

     

    - What, in your opinion, are main difficulties of working in Russia?

     

    - Here we have two problems – inadequate icebreaking assistance to vessels during winter season and, slow innovation of electronic documents workflow between Russian customs and freight forwarders that entails a large number of paper documents and loss of time during customs clearance of cargo and vessels.

     

    - How do you assess the situation on the market of container shipping in general?

     

    - At the moment the market situation is mixed. There is a slight increase in some segments, in other segments the situation is not typical – we did see a seasonal growth.

     

    Changes in traffic volumes will depend largely on developments in global financial markets and the stability of exchange rates. At the moment, many companies engaged in international trade demonstrate wait-and-see stance and therefore the container market is not high.

     

    - What was the Delta Shipping’s St. Petersburg service traffic volume in 2010 and what do you expect to have in 2011?


    - Total container shipments of Delta Shipping Line to/ from St. Petersburg in 2010 amounted to about 133,400 TEUs. Our forecast for 2011 - about 140,000 TEUs, 50/50 imports and exports.



     
    Interview by Vitaly Chernov.
     

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