Baltic ports raise cargo turnover by 3.4% in January-November

RIGA - During the first 11 months of this year, all Baltic ports together received and shipped 137.115 million tons of cargo, which was 3.4 percent or 4.485 million tons more than in the same period last year, according to the data released by the Latvian Central Statistical Bureau.

Of all cargos handled by the Baltic ports in the first 11 months of this year, 41.7 percent were reloaded in Latvia, 35.1 percent in Lithuania and 23.3 percent in Estonia.

In January-November 2017, cargo handling increased in the ports of all three Baltic states, while the rise was small in Latvian ports.

The cargo turnover of Latvian ports grew 0.4 percent or 203,300 tons year-on-year to 57.154 million tons.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian ports raised cargo turnover by 7.1 percent or 3.177 million tons to 48.081 million tons. In Estonia, the ports' annual cargo turnover rose 3.6 percent or 1.104 million tons to 31.881 million tons in January-November 2017.

The Lithuanian port of Klaipeda led other Baltic ports by cargo turnover in January-November this year, as it reloaded 39.219 million tons, up 6.5 percent from the first 11 months of 2016.

The Freeport of Riga was in second place with 31.117 million tons of cargo reloaded in January-November 2017, down 6.7 percent year-on-year, and another Latvian port, Ventspils, was third with 18.527 million tons, which was an 8.6 percent rise from the first 11 months of 2016.

In 2016, all Baltic ports together received and shipped 145.943 million tons of cargo, down 2.8 percent or 4.196 million tons from 2015. Of the total cargo turnover in Baltic ports last year, 43.2 percent were handled in Latvia, 33.8 percent in Lithuania and 23 percent in Estonia.