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Photo of Rasos Pakalkienė (LŽ)
In Klaipėda, the seaport business figure over the last ten years has increased by more than 40%. – from 30 mln. up to 43 million tons. This growth has been one of the fastest compared to the largest ports of the European Union (EU). The Lithuanian port of other high-rise ports of the EU is distinguished by the fact that its handling has increased mainly because of the volume of bulk goods.
Although Klaipėda is becoming increasingly dependent on cargoes from Belarus, growing exports and imports of Lithuanian goods and increasingly unstable export markets are, of course, determining the growth of the port of merchandise.
More and more freight – fertilizer, scrap metal, timber, cereals – are transported to the place of delivery around the world and Lithuania is loaded into containers (containerization) and shipped to various locations by various means of transport . it will not diminish, the Port Authority and the handling companies will have to invest even more so that the attractiveness of the port for current and future customers only increases.
Best Container Handling Infrastructure in the Baltic States
The Port of Gdańsk Examples of Maritime Ports. It doubled during the decade to 41 million tonnes. tons, and the biggest impact on that was 1 million. up to 16 million tons of increased container handling, when a deep-sea container handling terminal was installed, able to receive the largest sea freight containers from Asia.
For example, the port of Klaipeda has the best container handling infrastructure in the Baltic States. Therefore, the container distribution center may be important, but not as important as Gdansk. In May, the container terminal manager made a long-awaited decision in Klaipeda to provide services to container ships, which carry containers, to be shipped to other Baltic ports by more loyal vessels
More and more cargoes – fertilizer, scrap metal, timber, grain – are sold worldwide, and in Lithuania they are loaded into containers (so-called containerization) and transported by various means to Instead of delivery. The results of handling containers in the world's seaports in recent years have shown that container handling growth is about 1.5 times faster than global GDP. Container handling in Lithuania has grown rapidly in recent years: in 2017, it was 6.5% and, during the five months of this year, it handled around one-third more containers compared to the same period last year (TEU).
Freight volume will continue to increase
Although transit containers are loaded in the port of Klaipeda, most containers come to Lithuania to import imported goods or to load goods exported by our country. manufacturers in Lithuania. It should be noted that the export markets for Lithuanian products are becoming increasingly important. Exports (excluding petroleum products, fertilizers and grains) to the largest Asian countries jumped seven times during the decade, and in the United States for five years. Most of these goods transported by ships travel in containers. Our exporters should not slow down the search for distant markets, and the volume of freight transport by sea will continue to increase. If Lithuania, depending on the level of consumption, approaches the average of the EU countries, there is a real chance to increase the number of goods imported into containers.
Recently, port companies have invested heavily. They took into account the desire of grain traders to have larger storage tanks, to perform cleaning and drying functions and to speed up the loading and unloading of grain in the port. .
Although the port is no longer able to repeat such a change in grain handling, as in the last decade, there is still room to increase cargo handling capacity. In Lithuania, grain yield for a longer period is expected to increase gradually with the increase in yields, and the scale of cereal consumption in Lithuania will not change much, so that 4 million tons of cereals are transhipped. tons in their port of Klaipeda is absolutely possible.
The growth potential of fertilizers produced in Lithuania is limited, therefore, the port handling company will continue to focus on the attraction of Belarusian fertilizers, the bulk of which is constituted by potbadium fertilizers produced by Belaruskalij. Belarus, the most competitive potash fertilizer producer in the world, is constantly investing in the development of production, which suggests that fertilizer loading limits in the port are not yet met
. more difficult to combat Belarusian petroleum products than fertilizers. no more significant increase in the handling of these products. Orlen Lietuva, the Lithuanian oil refinery, had a very good three years because of its favorable recycling margins. While the market situation is changing, the lack of investment and unpleasant infrastructure make the competitiveness of this plant more problematic.
Forward-Looking Projects
New Silk Road between l & # 39; Asia and Europe The park is still very important projects in Minsk. Their port companies should not be forgotten. Recently, the volume of direct rail freight traffic between China and Europe has increased rapidly, with the almost weekly launch of new lines from Western European countries.
Most freight crosses the border between Ukraine and Belarus and, as a result, the situation gets worse. The "Lithuanian Railways" and the port of Klaipėda should be constantly reminded of themselves and packed for the circulation of these goods through Lithuania. On the other hand, the current relations between Lithuania and Russia are not so favorable that Moscow would be interested in easily transferring shipments from China or Central Asian countries to the Baltic countries.
The construction of the "Great Stone" industrial park is underway. , so the high value port is not yet available for this project. However, if the expectations of a huge investment in the park were confirmed, the possibilities of transporting goods to and from the park would increase considerably. Do not forget that the Latvian ports are competing for the same cargo.
Vilius Juzikis.
Investments must be made to further increase freight handling capacity.
The financial situation of the State Port Authority of Klaipėda and many port lashing companies is strong, allowing to borrow and invest.
Management anticipates that 2018-2022, more than 400 million will be invested in the port infrastructure.
Of course, keeping customers and finding new ones is very difficult, in addition to investing, it is extremely difficult because the competitors are developing for the same customers and the same expenses. In fact, they would not only help to increase cargo in the port of Klaipėda, but would also have a positive impact on the whole country. Conomic
Although balancing companies in the Baltic countries are small (the average income is about 50 times smaller than that of other foreign handling companies), they can, according to profitability, even out market participants international.
Last year, the EBITDA margin of Lithuanian shipping lines rose to 43 percent, while foreign companies accounted for 37 percent. The EBITDA margin of the Latvian and Estonian stowage companies was dependent on the decrease in transit shipments, particularly Russian oil, which resulted in a much lower EBITDA margin than Lithuania's (35%). Latvia and 30% in Estonia)
responsible borrowing policy. It depends on one or more customers, geographical location and terminals. This position of the Lithuanian handling companies is illustrated by the net financial debt / EBITDA ratio which, in 2017, was only 1.1 (foreign companies – 2.6). The capital ratio of Lithuanian port handling companies is even higher than that of foreign companies – in 2017 it was 69%. (foreign companies – 47%)
Vilius Juzikis is a member of the Board of Directors of Bank SEB, Director of the Business Banking Service
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