In Q2 2024, Russian marine container market continued to recover rapidly. Total container throughput at Russian marine terminals increased by 11.8% y-o-y and 3.4% q-o-q to 1,338 thousand TEU. In H1 2024, total container throughput grew by 14.6% y-o-y to 2,631 thousand TEU and reached levels of the record 2021 year.
The Baltic basin outperforms the market significantly. Container throughput in the Northwest Russia increased by 33.0% y-o-y in Q2 2024 and 58.2% y-o-y in H1 2024. Share of the Baltic basin in total Russian market increased to 32% in H1 2024 from 23% a year earlier. Container throughput at marine terminals in the Southern Russia (Azov-Black Sea and Caspian basins) demonstrated a lower-than-market growth by 5.6% y-o-y in Q2 2024 and 6.2% y-o-y in H1 2024. In the Far East basin container throughput mostly unchanged and remained closer to high levels of 2022–2023. Share of the Far East basin in total Russian market was 44% in H1 2024 compared to 51% a year earlier, that was due to demand recovery in the Baltic basin.
Consolidated container throughput of the Holding’s marine terminals increased to 271 thousand TEU in Q2 2024, or by 30.5% y-o-y. In H1 2024, Global Ports’ marine terminals handled 568 thousand TEU, that is 44.2% higher than in the same period a year earlier.
Since the beginning of 2024, growth rate of Global Ports’ consolidated container throughput exceeds market growth rate due to the favorable positioning of terminals in the Baltic basin. In Q2 2024, container throughput at the Company's marine terminals in the Baltics increased to 167 thousand TEU, or 2.8 times y-o-y, and this is the highest container throughput over the last 9 quarters. Key factors behind the volume growth at Global Ports’ terminals in the Baltics are import supplies and cabotage transportation.
The Holding continues to increase handling of non-containerised cargo: in H1 2024, growth rate of bulk cargo throughput was 11.0% y-o-y and in absolute values bulk cargo throughput at Global Ports’ marine terminals set a record for the first half of the year and reached 3.3 million tonnes.
Management comment:
Demand for marine container logistics in the Northwest Russia is recovering intensively. We were ready for this and reached the highest container throughput at our terminals located in the Baltic basin over the past two years.
After a period of strong recovery, market growth may slow down in the second half of the year, but demand remains strong. Diversification of our business across basins, types of cargo and types of clients ensures opportunities to maintain and strengthen Global Ports’ leadership in the Russian marine container market.
Key operational information:
Rounding adjustments have been made to calculate some of the operational information included in this release. As a result, numerical figures and percentages shown as totals in some tables may not be exact arithmetic aggregations.