Cargo turnover at Latvian ports down 10.6% in first seven months

RIGA - Latvian ports handled 23.327 million tons of cargo in January-July 2021, which is a 10.6 percent reduction from the same period last year, according to the Transport Ministry's data.

In the first seven months of this year, Latvian ports mostly transshipped loose cargo - 10.354 million tons, which is 12.8 percent less than a year ago.

Of this amount, grain and grain products made up 2.925 million tons, which is an increase of 22.5 percent against the first seven months of 2020. Woodchip cargo dropped 2.4 percent to 1.218 million tons, chemical cargo declined 7.1 percent to 1.102 million tons and coal cargo fell 91 percent to 218,100 tons.

Reloading of liquid cargo decreased 23.9 percent on year to 5.544 million tons in January-July 2021, with oil products accounting for 5.144 million tons of the liquid cargo, down 25.4 percent.

Handling of general cargo increased 7.2 percent on year to 7.430 million tons in the seven months of 2021. This amount included 2.499 million tons of containerized cargo, down 7.4 percent from the same period a year, 2.645 million tons of timber, up 19.7 percent, and 1.983 million tons of roll on/roll off cargo, up 13.6 percent.

As reported, in 2020, Latvian ports handled 44.928 million tons of cargo, which was 28 percent less in comparison with 2019.