2019-12-23

Bulk goods still on the upside

For the third year in a row, transhipments of bulk goods, i.e. coal, grain or fuels, are growing in Polish ports. The last year's result was record-breaking only after 10 months and amounted to 43.21 million tons, but this year it turned out to be even better - almost 45.84 million tons. This was influenced by a 10% growth rate of turnover in this field in the ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia. In commodity groups, liquid fuels recorded the highest growth - by 14%.

In 2018, over 50 million tonnes of bulk goods (52.547 million tonnes) were transhipped for the first time in our ports and it can be expected that the “fifty plus" result will be maintained also in this year. After 10 months we were only 4.163 million tons ahead of this threshold, and in the last 2 years in November and December, more than 9 million tons passed through the quays of Polish ports - in 2017 it was 9.92 million, and in 2018 - 9.52 million tons. The breakthrough of 50 million T was possible thanks to a large year-on-year growth. In 2018, 15.5% more bulk goods were transhipped than in 2017. Judging by the data from the 10 months of this year such a high growth rate is unlikely to be repeated, but the 6.6% growth rate is still a decent result.

The growth dynamics of bulk cargo turnover is in line with the general trend of the growth of transshipments in Polish ports. Although in the years 2009-2017 the share of "bulk" in the overall result was systematically falling, from 65% to 51%, in 2018 it remained at the same level as the year before and after 10 months of 2019 is only 1 percentage point lower. The result was similar after 10 months of the previous year, but in November and December 2018 transshipments in this group increased enough to close the gap. It can be expected that the situation will be similar this year.

As far as the share of bulk goods in our ports is concerned, it increased in Gdańsk - by 0.4 percentage point - from 55.4% in 2018 to 55.8% and in Gdynia by 2 percentage points - from 37% to 39%. On the other hand, it decreased significantly in the Szczecin-Świnoujście port complex from 52.8% to 46.3%, which means that it is the lowest in the past decade. The port in Police is de facto a bulk port and it is only from 2014 that the minimum - less than 1% of the total turnover - reloading of other goods is performed there. Changes in the share of bulk cargo in total operations in the individual ports are reflected in the splitting of the bulk cake. Of course, Gdańsk remains the dominant port with 54%, which means an increase of 2 percentage points compared to last year. A decrease was recorded by the ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście, which currently have a 26% share. Gdynia and Police have not changed their ownership - 17 and 3% respectively.

As a result, 2019 will be another good year for bulk cargo in Polish ports. The growth is not as dynamic as the year before, but if we compare it to the results achieved in the past 10 years, it turns out that only in 3 of them a higher growth dynamics was recorded. At the same time, it is the third year in a row of increases in bulk cargo turnover and the seventh year of the generally sustained upward trend in ports, which had only a minimal (-0.64%) downward correction in 2016.

Article developed with "Namiary na Morze i Handel" magazine

phot. Namiary na Morze i Handel