The Freeport of Riga has handled 415,600 TEU in 2021, which translates to 4.23 million tonnes of container cargo, reflecting a decrease of 7.8% over 2020 in box volumes.
This number, however, represents 20% of all the cargo handled at the Port of Riga during 2021, according to a statement.
The Latvian port explained this drop by the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global logistic chains, “restricting the return to the previous volume.”
In the meantime, 21.5 million tonnes of cargo were handled at the port in 2021, recording a decrease of 9.8% year-on-year, which was due to the decline of energy resources cargo.
The largest type of handled cargo was forestry, which made up 6.2 million or 29% of the total cargo volumes handled at the European port.
“We currently continue working on industrialisation of the port, establishment plans of a new logistics park in the Port of Riga, and reconstruction of the existing land infrastructure,” stated Ansis Zeltins, CEO of the Freeport of Riga.
In 2022, the Latvian power expected an increase in grain product cargo, on the basis of the investments in the cargo handling infrastructure, as well as the ability of the port companies to attract transit cargo of grain products from Lithuania and regions of Russia.
