WASHINGTON: All Baltic ports together handled 13.468 mln tons of cargo in January this year, up by 3.2 % or 422,000 tons from the same month in 2016, according to the data released by the Latvian Central Statistical Bureau. Of all cargos handled by the Baltic ports in January this year, 47.9% were reloaded in Latvia, 31.4% in Lithuania and 20.7% in Estonia. Compared to January 2016, cargo turnover grew in Latvian and Lithuanian ports but decreased in Estonia. The cargo turnover of the Latvian ports rose 13.4% or 760,500 tons to 6.449 mln tons in January this year. Meanwhile, Lithuanian ports raised cargo turnover by 6.3% or 249,500 tons to 4.225 mln tons. In Estonia, the ports’ annual cargo turnover was down 17.4% or 588,000 tons to 2.794 mln tons in January 2017.
The Lithuanian port of Klaipeda led other Baltic ports by cargo turnover in January this year, as it reloaded 3.406 mln tons, down 0.1% from January 2016. The Freeport of Riga was in second place with 3.204 mln tons of cargo reloaded in January 2017, down 1.9% year-on-year, and another Latvian port, Ventspils, was third with 2.549 mln tons, which was a 39.5% rise from January 2016. Tallinn port was in the fourth place with EUR 1.367 mln tons of cargo handled in January this year, which was a drop by 38.7% y-o-y. In 2016, all Baltic ports together received and shipped 145.943 mln tons of cargo, down 2.8% or 4.196 mln tons from 2015. Of the total cargo turnover in Baltic ports last year, 43.2% were handled in Latvia, 33.8% in Lithuania and 23% in Estonia.
