The Izmail seaport expects a possible increase in the volume of ore-pellet cargo from the Poltava ore mine as well as stabilization of the flow of new cargoes (slabs from the Alchevsk, iron ore from Krivoy Rog, and transit fertilizers from Russia) in 2014. The seaport’s Director Andrii Yerokhin announced this to the Center for Transport Strategies.
Yerokhin noted the importance of the government resolution on introduction of a 10% discount on rail transportation of products of the Poltava ore mine and the Alchevsk steel plant to Izmail. A draft of this resolution is currently awaiting approval by the Cabinet of Ministers.
"I will not predict the reaction of Poltava to this decision. However, in 2012, in response to our letter stating that we are working to reduce port charges and railway tariffs (by 10% for railcars from the general fleet and 5% for railcars from the specialized fleet), they told us that the guaranteed amount could increase to 1 million tons for the year,” said Yerokhin.
In addition, according to him, there is agreement that the Alchevsk steel plant will deliver at least 24,000-25,000 tons of slabs to the port per month if the Cabinet of Ministers makes a positive decision.
Transportation of iron-ore concentrate from the ArcelorMittal Krivoy Rog steel plant (about 40,000 tons per month intended for transportation to Romania), which was first tested in November 2013, will resume in March. "It was suspended due to the winter season. Iron-ore concentrate needs temperature control because it is loaded while hot. It turns into stone if it freezes. Therefore, it was decided to take a break during the winter," said the director of the seaport.
The Izmail seaport also expects the flow of Russian transit fertilizers to stabilize. According to applications from forwarders, the annual volume could reach 200,000 tons.
As reported, information from the Association of Seaports of Ukraine states that cargo transshipment at the Izmail seaport reduced by 5.9% to 2.76 million tons in 2013, compared with 2012. However, the seaport intends to increase its transshipment volume to 3.3-3.6 million tons this year, for the first time in several years.
