Ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście: cargo handling has gone up

In July this year, the ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście handled 16 per cent cargo more and in the past 7 months nearly 4 per cent more cargo than in the corresponding periods of last year.

Increase has been recorded in nearly all cargo groups. Grain and fuel take the lead with growth of 120.4 per cent and 102.7 per cent respectively. The grain market is very promising, since it has shown a steady growing trend. Szczecin Bulk Terminal, with the Ewa silo, should start grain handling shortly. Fuel handling improved with the establishing of a gas terminal in Świnoujście.

In July this year, very good results were recorded as regards handling of ore which increased by 76.3 per cent. Ore transport has continued for quite some time now. The ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście handle ore for domestic clients and those from the south of Europe, chiefly the Czech Republic and Slovakia.  Break bulk handling increased by 4.9 per cent, which is related to the increase of cargo traffic at the Świnoujście Ferry Terminal.

Unfortunately, handling of some types cargo has decreased. Those included coal (-0.3 per cent) and other bulk (-19.9 per cent). In general, July 2016 showed improvement of 15.7 per cent if compared to July last year. Coal has recorded decrease since last year. Forwarders choose neighbouring ports, since navigation on the Świnoujście-Szczecin fairway faced certain restrictions. This highlights the necessity to dredge the fairway to 12.5 m. A major drop in bulk cargo is attributed to reduced supply of aggregates, which is related to the completion of the building process at Bilfinger in Szczecin. During the construction period, several ships with aggregates called at the port every month, whereas recently it has been only one.

Despite a difficult situation on the container market, the port complex has recorded a double digit increase (+17.5 per cent). An overall result for the past several months is positive. The ports handled 5.2 per cent more containers than in last year.

Summarizing, the period of several months was marked with an improvement of 3.9 per cent in the ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście comparing to a corresponding period of 2015. Grain handling increased by 9.7 per cent, break bulk 11.8 per cent and oil by 14.6 per cent. Handling of coal decreased by 7.5 per cent, ore by 4.9 per cent and other bulk dropped by 14.8 per cent.

The Szczecin-Świnoujście port complex expects to witness further increase in cargo handling. Thus, it is necessary to invest in improving accessibility to the ports from land and sea, and promoting further development and strengthening of the position on the market.

rel (Port of Szczecin and Świnoujście)