Baku International Sea Trade Port CJSC (Port of Baku) increased its cargo volumes by 7,2% in 2019 compared to 2018 (3.787 million tonnes) reaching 4.06 million tonnes. The majority of the total cargo, that is 84.8% (3.44 million tonnes) was transit freight.
Containers and wheeled vehicles were at their highest levels for 28 years with Baku handling 35,152 TEU, a 53.6% increase compared to the previous year (in 2018 this figure was 22,887 TEU).
The number of containers coming from China increased by 111% to 5,369 TEU (2,547 TEU in 2018). The reason for the significant increase in Chinese container freight through the Trans-Caspian International Route (Middle Corridor) during this period of time is the launch of two container ships, Turkestan and Beket Ata, through the Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan route in April 2019.
The handling of wheeled vehicles, including TIRs, increased by 57.3% compared to 2018 and reached 33,671 vehicles. Of these, 24,970 (74.2%) moved in rotation from Baku-Turkmenbashi-Baku and 8,701 (25.8%) took the Baku-Kuryk-Baku route. A significant increase in the handling of wheeled vehicles is due to the increased use of these routes by Turkish, Ukrainian and Turkmen TIRs.
The number of railway wagons handled in the ferry terminal of the Port of Baku increased by 2.7% and reached 44,175 (compared to 42,999 in 2018). 20,331 out of all wagons (46,0%) moved in Baku-Kuryk-Baku direction, 23,802 wagons (53.9%) moved in Baku-Turkmenbashi-Baku direction, and 42 wagons (0,1%) moved in Baku-Aktau-Baku direction.
46,265 passengers used the services of the Port of Baku in 2019.
