Gdansk port prepared for increased grain truck traffic

Port operators are steadily increasing their capacity for handling agricultural crops. They plan to increase grain handling capacity to nearly 3 million tonnes over the next 2 years. The forecast for this year is 2.5 million t.

Currently, the Port of Gdansk handles grain at the terminals: GBT/Malteurop on the Bytom Wharf, Port Gdański Eksploatacja on the Szczecin Wharf, Magrol on the Five Whistle Bend Wharf, Gdańskie Młyny on the Grain Wharf, Speed on the Vistula Wharf and Siark-Port on the OPP Wharf.

Grain, after energy raw materials such as coal and liquid fuels, is another cargo group prioritised at the Port of Gdansk. It is mainly exported. It is both Polish and Ukrainian grain. In 2022, just over 1.9 million tonnes of grain passed through the port’s quays. Since the beginning of this year, operators have already handled more than 764,000 tonnes of grain.

Ships with grain (middlings, maize, wheat, rye, faba bean, rapeseed, oilseeds) sail mainly to ports in Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium. A total of 115 grain loading vessels have been handled since the beginning of this year, as well as three vessels that arrived with grain.

The capacity of grain deliveries and collections to/from the main terminals PGE, GBT, GDAŃSKIE MŁYNY, MAGROL is a maximum of 758 cars and 71 wagons per day. From the beginning of the year to April, 13,280 lorries with grain were unloaded and 5 cars were loaded at the Port of Gdansk. In rail traffic, on the other hand, 1,827 wagons with grain were handled.

– There is a considerable challenge ahead of us when it comes to exporting outside Poland the stocks of grain currently held in storage. Exporting such quantities of grain is only possible by sea. This makes it difficult for port operators to maximise their handling capacity. In order to facilitate this, the Port of Gdansk is working on the preparation of infrastructure and principles of organisation of the main logistic channels, so that the traffic to and from the port is as smooth as possible, explains Kamil Tarczewski, Vice-President of the Port of Gdansk Authority.

It is estimated that around 70 per cent of grain transport to the port in the near future will take place by truck and further by ship. For this reason, ZMPG, as a preventive measure, is preparing additional places and car parks for trucks, which will help to avoid traffic jams and clogging public roads, including, for example, the roundabout at Letnica.

Grain in the Port of Gdansk is mainly exported. Currently, the port’s handling capacity is estimated at 300,000 tonnes per month, giving an annual turnover of 3.6 million tonnes.

Source: PortalMorski.pl