The Port of Gdansk nearing the record high throughput results

21.09.2010

On 15 September 2010, the Port of Gdansk exceeded the throughput volume forecasted for the year 2010. By 7am of that day, the projected turnover of 18,523 million tonnes was short of barely 9,000 tonnes. Waiting on the roadstead in the morning, however, there were both coal and sulphur carriers as well as container feeder ships. "Searangers" operated under the flag of Hong Kong just left Gdansk with the load of 100 thousand tonnes of crude oil and so did the Danish container carrier "Clementine Maersk" carrying away almost 8.5 thousand TEUs. The AE10 Asia Europe service, which guarantees a weekly call of an ocean-going container ship at the Deepwater Container Terminal "DCT Gdansk", has grown increasingly robust since 4 January. The turnover reported by Gdansk-based "Naftoport" has surprisingly shown regular increase. This is perhaps the first time in the post-war history that the Port of Gdansk has processed monthly well over 2 million tonnes of cargo. The estimates of the last 8.5 months give the hope that - despite the expected economic slowdown - the Port of Gdansk will surpass the 2004 and 2005 record high figures and attain a result that can only compare to that of 30 years ago.

However, due to the specific character of sea transport, especially considered the fleet and the ports of the former Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (RWPG), forecasters still remain cautious. Commodity turnovers continue to depend excessively on politics. As long as the operators of the Port of Gdansk's major terminal facilities - i.e. the liquid fuels and coal terminals - depend on non-commercial priorities, projecting their throughput remains vague and uncertain.

This is exemplified by the 2010 turnover of Russian crude oil, which - contrary to the premises formulated over the past three years - came as a great surprise to the Port of Gdansk. Although previously (since the launch of the liquid fuels terminal in 1975), Russian crude oil accounted for half of the port's throughput, this year's volume of this commodity reached the level of nearly 67 percent. Yet, who will guarantee that the current rate (approx. 1.2 million tonnes per month) can be sustained until the year-end?

Gdansk has scored "the bull's eye" with the DCT container terminal, which surprised sceptics with its rapidly growing container throughput that has now almost tripled year-on-year providing a superb evidence of the proposition that nature cannot tolerate a vacuum... China's economic expansion must have found an outlet in ports outside the North Sea basin. Following the Europe-oriented transformation, the seaport in Gdansk proved to be an excellent bridgehead to serve the purpose. The Port of Gdansk's hydro-navigational conditions - frequently referred to as the "geographic rent" i.e. all year-round possibility to accommodate the biggest vessels that can pass through the Danish Straits without the ice class - have earned interest for a thousand years and now give the port an opportunity, or even a guarantee, to overcome any global financial or economic crisis.

Today, the Port of Gdansk's prospects for growth can only be constrained by the insufficient funding of infrastructure development. The port is unable to make the necessary investments into the expansion of infrastructure relying solely on its own resources. The opportunity, therefore, lies in bringing on board a business partner - as was the case with the Australian funds and DCT - in order to build new terminals, or to create more throughput capacity following the example of the Belgian group "Sea Invest" implementing the Dry Bulk Terminal at the Northern Port. In both cases, shipping analysts support the concept of setting up in Gdansk container and bulk cargo hubs for the Baltic Sea basin. Current throughput figures already strengthen Gdansk's confidence that its position as Poland's leading seaport is unrivaled and that the expected growth in turnovers - thanks to the investments secured by foreign partners - confirm Gdansk as a reliable partner to all Baltic ports. The passing year 2010 may prove to become not only a year of record high throughput for Gdansk, but also a breakthrough date in terms of the role it is about to take in the European Union's commodity turnover.

Janusz Kasprowicz
PGA SA PR Officer