[110316.EN.BIZ] Black Sea Suffers 26pc Drop In Box Volume In 2015 As Trade Declines

BLACK SEA container terminals in the Ukraine, Romania, Russia, Georgia and Bulgaria suffered a collective 26 per cent year-on-year decline to 2,294,848 TEU last year, with laden boxes dropping 12.18 per cent to 1,628,797 TEU.

Although there was a slight increase of turnover in Bulgaria and Romania, the Ukraine suffered a 26 per cent decline in box traffic, while Russia and Georgia's turnover both shrank 13 per cent, reported UK's Port Strategy.

Export volumes in the region rose 22 per cent over 2014 with Georgia increasing its volume by 19 per cent, but the Ukraine's export volume contracted by 14 per cent. Imports to the region dropped by a fifth mainly due to the import volume drop of 36 per cent in Ukraine.

In fact all of these countries saw a decrease in import volumes in 2015, apart from Romania where import volumes were up by two per cent.

Source : HKSG.