Ventspils Port Cargo Turnover Down by 24%
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Terminals in the Port of Ventspils handled a total of 9 million tons of cargo in January-May 2016 or by 23.98% less than in the same period in 2015.
The transit of oil products and coal had declined steeply year-on-year, affecting the total cargo turnover at Ventspils.
The cargo turnover of Ventspils Nafta Terminals contracted by 1.5 million tons or 27% to less than half of the terminal's capacity, and the cargo turnover of Baltic Coal Terminal was down 609,000 tons or 45% compared to January-May 2015, also to less than half of the terminal's capacity.
Although the Ventspils port has to reckon with a significant reduction of its income due to performance of certain terminals, it nevertheless plans investments in infrastructure also in 2016 with EUR 8 million earmarked for the investment program in the port’s budget. Some of the projects will be co-financed by the EU Cohesion Fund.
The Freeport of Ventspils Authority is set to invest 8 mln euros into the development of port infrastructure this year. Part of investment programmes will be financed by the Cohesion Fund of the EU.
Ventspils port is located near Venta river. There are terminals for loading and unloading of crude and oil products, liquid chemicals and fertilizers, metal and coal, timber and fish, containers and Ro-Ro trailers.