Russian coal companies now have access to only 30% of the world's bulk freight, and the cost of freight has jumped nine times because of Western sanctions.
This was stated by the participants in a transport and logistics conference currently taking place in the Russian Federation, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Interfax news agency.
"What is freight today? Freight is only 30% of the possible global bulk freight today. We had access to 100% back in February and only 30% today. In August we also faced unprecedented influence from clubs providing ship reinsurance," said Denis Rakhimzhanov, director of logistics at JSC Siberian Coal Energy Company.
He added that the export distance increased significantly after European countries buying coal rejected supplies from Russia.
"We have reformatted the logistics chains, and the countries to which we transport [coal] today through Western ports are Morocco, India, Turkey, and other countries that we previously considered non-strategically important partners. This has led to a dramatic change in the cost of coal and an increase in the transport distance. If the [route] was previously Murmansk-Rotterdam, which is 3,000 kilometers, it is now to Iskenderun (Turkey), which is over 15,000 kilometers, and the cost of freight per ton has increased nine-fold," Rakhimzhanov said.
He added that his company expects a 1% increase in total exports despite reducing coal exports to the West from 10 to 7.2 million tons, compared with the first eight months of 2021. However, according to him, there will be a significant reduction in the monetary equivalent. In addition to factors such as the availability and cost of freight and the transport distance, the increase of rail freight rates on 1 June and the current situation involving the Russian ruble influenced this.
