Excellent annual port performance

Port operators at the ports of Szczecin-Świnoujście, Gdańsk and Gdynia generated excellent achievements in 2022. As a result, the ports closed in the year 2022 with 133.2 million handled cargoes, an 18 per cent improvement in comparison to 2021. Of this result, the port of Szczecin-Świnoujście accounted for 27.6 per cent.

A press conference was held in Warsaw with Deputy Infrastructure Ministers Marek Gróbarczyk and Grzegorz Witkowski in attendance. During it, the ministers, together with the management of the seaports of Szczecin-Świnoujście, Gdańsk and Gdynia, summed up the excellent year 2022 for Polish ports. The results achieved with the Szczecin-Świnoujście port team were presented by the vice president for economic and financial affairs, Daniel Stachiewicz.

– 2022 was another record year for Polish seaports. The transshipment results clearly show how good a condition Polish ports are in. I am convinced that these successes are also influenced by the investments made in recent years, which have contributed to the development of the sector and increased handling capacity. At this point, I would like to thank the management and operators of ports, as well as all employees, for their hard work. I hope that this year will bring even more positive news for the Polish maritime economy,” said Deputy Infrastructure Minister Marek Gróbarczyk.

For the port of Szczecin-Świnoujście, the year 2022 was a record year in terms of cargo handled. The ports achieved a result of 36.8 million tonnes, and are thus in the lead in relation to 2021 by 11 per cent.

– This is a record that has been achieved thanks to all stakeholders who work at the port. I would like to thank the port operators and the employees of the port authority,” said Daniel Stachiewicz.

Interestingly, the result of 33.3 million tonnes achieved for the whole of 2021 was already achieved by the ports on 30 November last year. As a result, they were already working towards a record in December.

The record was built by transhipments in the coal group, which were up by as much as nearly 51 per cent compared to 2021. It is worth mentioning that in the face of the energy crisis and the embargo on coal supplies from Russia, the volume of imports of thermal coal alone increased by as much as 235 per cent. Over 3 million tonnes of this raw material were imported through the ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście last year.

Another group recording the largest increases is liquid fuels, whose turnover was 42.5 per cent higher. Here, a significant increase in LNG imports should be highlighted. By the end of the year, 58 units were handled at the gas port, compared to 35 in 2021 (i.e. 23 less). LNG transhipments in 2022 increased from 2.7 million tonnes to 4.4 million tonnes.

In addition, throughput in the metal ore group increased by 11.4 per cent, among which iron ore accounted for the largest share with 1.6 million tonnes out of a total of 2.1 million tonnes. Cargo turnover from the other bulk segment also increased by around 11 per cent. Fertilisers dominate here, but also commodities such as pig iron, largely sourced from Ukraine and destined for Western Europe.

Unfortunately, the ports also recorded minor declines. These include the most important cargo group of general cargo, including ferry cargo. Investment and repair work carried out at the ferry terminal in Świnoujście resulted in a slight decrease in traffic of more than two per cent. The grain market is also different and, as a result, its transshipments in Szczecin and Świnoujście fell by 7.6 per cent in 2022. This is partly the result of the unblocking of Ukrainian ports and the export of agricultural products directly from Ukraine. Significant volumes of grain in transit, mainly maize, were also recorded. Container transshipments y-o-y decreased by 8 per cent.

Source: PortalMorski.pl