Russian Seaport Cargo Volumes All Time High
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
The turnover of goods of seaports of Russia for the first time in history exceeded the mark of 700 million tons per year, reports local media.
According to figures released by the Russian Maritime Ports Association, the sector's overall turnover rose 6.7 percent in 2016.
Even a drop in foreign exports did not impact freight handling volumes, which grew over the last decade. Total turnover increased 77.4 percent between 2006 and 2016.
Arctic region ports posted the strongest growth in freight traffic in 2016, up by as much as 40.6 percent, to just shy of 50 million tons.
A key factor in this dynamic increase was a 120 percent rise in the handling of liquid cargoes to 23.1 million tons, a figure comparable to the 26.6 million tons of dry cargo handled in the Russian Arctic last year.
RBTH quoted Alexei Bezborodov, head of the research agency InfraNews, as saying that future freight traffic growth at Russian ports will mainly come from further export expansion. This derives from the lower ruble exchange rate - increased exports help to maintain the currency's value.