Port of Gdansk ready for grain

Although grain transshipments had already increased significantly in all Polish seaports last year, which is directly related to the blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, they were overshadowed in the first few months by the gigantic volumes of coal handled at the ports. In recent months, however, there has been more and more talk and writing about grain. Ports and operators already have their hands full and are preparing for further increases.

In 2022, the Port of Gdansk handled around 2 million tonnes of grain, a record for the port. At the same time, this was 19 per cent more than the year before. The first half of 2023 brought another colossal increase in agro-transshipments.

– Polish ports, including the Port of Gdansk, the largest of them, were prepared to handle more grain. Although this was a considerable challenge, they were up to the task. This can be seen from the handling results for the first half of this year. In the six months through the Port of Gdansk, the grain terminals exported around 1.4 million tonnes of grain, especially maize, an increase of 52 per cent compared to the same period last year. By comparison, for the whole of 2022, the Port of Gdansk handled just over 1.9 million tonnes of grain, explains Marek Gróbarczyk, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure.

The port itself is preparing for increased grain shipments. As approximately 70 per cent of the grain transport to the port is done by lorry, it was necessary to increase the number of parking spaces – currently, there are already 970. They will allow the port’s arterial and access streets to be unloaded, as it is estimated that up to 1,500 lorries with grain may enter the port during the peak traffic period.

Grain sampling points operated by J.S. Hamilton await in four car parks. This is because, without proper testing, the grain will not be loaded onto a ship. Testing takes place 24 hours a day, regardless of the weather, made possible by the roofing of the sampling equipment. In July, J.S. Hamilton opened additional stations in the Port of Gdansk. As a result, it can handle more than 700 cars per day. The queues of waiting drivers have thus been reduced practically to zero.

However, the significant increase in handling capacity is a process spread over many years. According to plans, the operators working in the Port of Gdansk will develop their capacities over the next two years to such an extent that the port’s throughput will increase to around 5.8 million tonnes per year.

Source: PortalMorski.pl