The major Russian port and terminal operator Global Ports has announced its operational results for the second quarter and the first half of 2024.
In Q2 2024, the Russian marine container market continued its rapid recovery. Total container throughput at Russian marine terminals increased by 11.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) and 3.4% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to 1.338 million TEUs.
In H1 2024, total container throughput grew by 14.6% y-o-y to 2.631 million TEUs, reaching the levels of the record year 2021.
The Baltic basin significantly outperformed the market. Container throughput in Northwest Russia increased by 33% y-o-y in Q2 2024 and 58.2% y-o-y in H1 2024. The Baltic basin’s share of the total Russian market increased to 32% in H1 2024 from 23% a year earlier.
Furthermore, container throughput at marine terminals in Southern Russia (Azov-Black Sea and Caspian basins) showed lower-than-market growth, increasing by 5.6% y-o-y in Q2 2024 and 6.2% y-o-y in H1 2024. In the Far East basin, container throughput remained mostly unchanged, staying close to the high levels of 2022–2023.
In addition, the Far East basin’s share of the total Russian market was 44% in H1 2024, down from 51% a year earlier due to the demand recovery in the Baltic basin.
The consolidated container throughput of the company’s marine terminals rose to 271,000 TEUs in Q2 2024, an increase of 30.5% y-o-y. In H1 2024, Global Ports’ marine terminals handled 568,000 TEUs, a 44.2% increase from the same period a year earlier.
Since the beginning of 2024, the growth rate of Global Ports’ consolidated container throughput has exceeded the market growth rate due to the favourable positioning of its terminals in the Baltic basin.
In Q2 2024, container throughput at the company’s marine terminals in the Baltics surged to 167,000 TEUs, a 2.8 times increase y-o-y, marking the highest container throughput in the last nine quarters. Key factors behind the volume growth at Global Ports’ terminals in the Baltics include import supplies and cabotage transportation.
Global Ports continues to increase the handling of non-containerized cargo. In H1 2024, the growth rate of bulk cargo throughput was 11% y-o-y, with bulk cargo throughput at Global Ports’ marine terminals reaching a record 3.3 million tonnes for the first half of the year.
