Record year in marine transhipments for PG Exploitation SA

Port operator Port Gdański Eksploatacja S.A. is closing the year with historical results in cargo handled. The company is set to end the year at 6.5 million tonnes of transshipments, more than double last year’s result. The war in Ukraine and the energy commodity embargo impact the result.

During the 11 months of 2022, the company handled a total of 6 million tonnes of cargo, including timber (200,000 tonnes), general cargo (1.2 million tonnes), grain (416,000 tonnes), coal and coke (3.6 million tonnes), iron ore (170,000 tonnes), among others. The largest increases were recorded in coal (up 295%) and timber (up 902%). The company started the year with transshipments of 150 thousand tonnes per month and will end the year with a result of nearly 950 thousand tonnes per month. In total, the company handled more than 650 thousand tonnes of goods from Ukraine, including billet sheets, billets, iron ore and pig iron.

– In response to the needs of importing coal to our country, we are increasing the area of storage yards, as well as investing in mobile handling equipment, which directly translates into increased handling capacity and speed of operations, explains Paweł Nowak, President of PG Eksploatacja S.A. (hereinafter PGE S.A.)

In February this year, the first of three harbour cranes purchased by PGE S.A. began operating at Wood Station. – Liebherr LHM – 550. Two more LHM – 550 cranes will be delivered to the quay in June and August 2023. Investments in handling equipment have significantly increased and will increase the company’s handling capacity in the future.

The blockade of Ukrainian ports, the embargo imposed on energy raw materials imported from Russia and the simultaneous need to ensure the continuity of raw material supplies from other directions by sea caused PGE S.A. to take on the burden of handling an increased stream of cargo 24/7. During the 11 months of 2022, the company handled a total of 3.6 million tonnes of coal, a 295% increase compared to the same period last year. November was an absolute record-breaker, with over 750,000 tonnes of the commodity handled.

– It was an exceptionally challenging year for us, during which we collectively achieved an above-average result. Thanks to the hard work of the whole team, we have doubled our transshipments this year and are breaking new records every month,” says Paweł Nowak, President of PG Eksploatacja S.A.

This year alone, due to the current geopolitical situation and the need to store coal on the premises of the operator PG Eksploatacja S.A., ZMPG S.A. has paved additional areas for storage yards with a total area of 100,000.00 m2 as well as upgraded the existing railway infrastructure with a total length of 1367.00 m.b. As part of the cooperation between ZMPG and PGE, work is currently underway to harden a further 42,000.00 m2 of land. The total value of the company’s investment in the storage yards is PLN 11.7 million.

source: PortalMorski.pl