Port of Gdansk handled over 25 million tonnes of commodities in H1’2019
The Port of Gdansk says it has summed up the first half of 2019. It beat last year’s record, achieving a 9% increase compared to the first six months of 2018.
The first half of 2018 ended with an unprecedented result – for the first time, the Port of Gdansk handled more than 25 million tonnes of commodities within 6 months. This year, it beat its own record.
“27.3 million tonnes of goods – this is how much cargo passed through our quays since the beginning of the year. 4% more than we had planned for this period. We managed to achieve increases in virtually all cargo groups. Fuels are the leader after the first half of the year, having reached impressive growth dynamics of 21.5% compared to the previous year,” explains Lukasz Greinke, President of the Port of Gdansk Authority.
The Port of Gdansk also achieved a great result in the transshipment of general cargo – as many as 11.3 million tonnes were handled, 4.2% more than last year. Over 10.3 million tonnes out of the above were goods transported in containers. The Port of Gdansk keeps getting closer to St. Petersburg – the largest container port in the Baltic Sea at the moment. Gdansk, the second largest one, only needs 130,000 TEU in order to catch up with the Russian port (this is less than the monthly container transshipment volume at the Port of Gdansk).
The first half of the year was not the only record-breaking period at the Port this year – in May and June, monthly transshipment volumes exceeded 5 million tonnes for the first time.
“Coal is the third largest cargo group, having come to nearly 3.5 million tonnes this first half of 2019. We can also see an increase in the number of commercial vessel calls at the port – there were as many as 1,489, i.e. 84 more than last year,” explains Adam Klos, Commercial Director at the PGA.
Gdansk has also recorded growth in the transshipment of cargo from the RO-RO group – by 24.3%, and in the case of the transshipment of timber – by as much as 41.4%.
“The dynamics of transshipment growth at Polish seaports clearly show that we need to invest in the development of infrastructure. This is why we are preparing a special act on outer ports, which will accelerate the execution of investments, which will in turn translate into an even higher increase in transshipments,”says Marek Grobarczyk, Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation.
The development plans of the Port of Gdansk assume that the transshipment dynamics will increase even further in the coming years, not only thanks to the redevelopment of the existing areas, but also thanks to the planned construction of the Central Port. The investment will make it possible for the Polish port to handle up to 100 million tonnes a year.
“We would like to once again thank our business partners, who have been working very hard for this success. The Port of Gdansk is currently the 4th largest port in the Baltic Sea, but only 2 million tonnes separate it from catching up with the 3rd place, Primorsk. It is a result of really intensive work,” says Lukasz Greinke.
