Latvian ports report 6.2 pct drop in cargo turnover for 2015

Cargo turnover at Latvia's ports slowed last year as all ports together reloaded 69.569 million tons of cargo, down 6.2 percent from 2014, reported local media citing data from the Transport Ministry.

The Freeport of Riga, which in 2015 handled 40.056 million tons of cargo, or 2.5 percent less than a year before, was last year's leader by cargo turnover.

The Freeport of Ventspils on Latvia's northwestern seacoast, which came second with 22.527 million tons of cargo reloaded in 2015, suffered the biggest slump as its cargo turnover fell 14 percent year-on-year.

Liepaja was the only one of Latvia's three largest ports to raise cargo turnover in 2015. The southwestern Latvian port handled 5.611 million tons last year, up 5.9 percent against 2014.

Bulk cargos made up nearly half of all cargos shipped through the Latvian ports last year. The turnover of these cargos, however, declined 6.9 percent year-on-year to 33.392 million tons. Handling of liquid cargos was down 3 percent to 24.736 million tons and the turnover of crude oil shrank 45.6 percent to 89,200 tons. General cargos dropped 10.8 percent to 10.524 million tons.

In 2014, cargo turnover at the Latvian quickened 5.2 percent from a year before to 74.176 million tons. Endit