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Kotka: Towards an all time high

During this year the total cargo handled in the port of Kotka has increased by an incredible 18 per cent. Although last year’s traffic figures were not quite as high as they could have been due to the strike and lock-out in the forest industry, the port of Kotka is most likely going towards an all time high in cargo handling. Managing Director Kimmo Naski at Port of Kotka Ltd estimates that this year’s figures will reach a total of 9.5 million tons.

Growth has been especially strong in container traffic and in the import of new cars for transhipment to Russia. The number of cars has grown by 165 per cent so far and the number of TEUs by 30 per cent. The containerized cargo volume in tons has increased even more and reached 37 per cent by the end of August 2006.

Large investments
Kotka is by tradition one of the most important ports for the export of forest products in Finland. It has also evolved into a logistics hub, specialised in serving the global logistics needs of Finnish and Russian foreign trade. In recent years, the supply of value-added logistics services has been in focus at the port of Kotka. At present there are almost 100 enterprises engaged in port-related operations.
The growth in container traffic has been enabled by the large investments in infrastructure during the last few years. During the years 2001–2005 the port of Kotka has invested EUR 64 million, of which a considerable share is related to the development of the Mussalo Container Terminal. Completed and commissioned at the beginning of 2001, it was the first terminal on the Baltic Sea dedicated exclusively to container traffic. Today all Finland’s largest container operators Steveco Oy, Finnsteve Oy, and Containerships’ Multi Link Terminals are working in the port of Kotka.
A record volume of 366,666 TEUs were handled in Kotka in 2005 and for this year it is estimated that the volume will be 450,000 TEUs. Despite the strong rate of growth there is potential for a further increase in traffic. The Mussalo Container Terminal is designed for an annual capacity of one million TEUs with present working hours and methods of handling.
“With higher container stacking on the storage areas, increased automation and work around the clock we will be able to further increase our capacity”, explains Mr Naski.
However, preparations are already being made for future expansion of the container terminal. The next stage in this process will be evaluating its impact on the environment.

Good balance
The growth in container traffic in the port of Kotka is generated by a unique combination of Finnish exports and Russian imports.
“It is difficult to say what is the driving force. It is rather a question of a positive movement where one kind of traffic supports another”, Mr Naski states.
As a consequence of this, only a minimal number of empty boxes are handled in the port of Kotka.
“In the container traffic there is quite a good balance between incoming transit cargo for Russia and Finnish exports”, confirms Mr Naski.
He continues that further growth is to be expected in container traffic, as nowadays almost all types of cargo are suitable for shipment in containers. Most of the outgoing containers handled in the port are carried to ports on the continent for further shipment to destinations overseas.
According to Mr Naski, containerisation in Finland’s foreign trade with Europe has hardly begun. Still there is a notable increase of container shipments within Europe in the port of Kotka.
“It is not yet a dramatic growth, as most of the cargo in short sea shipping is carried by ro-ro vessels. But there is a great potential for future growth as the process hardly has started”.
He foresees a bright future for the Russian container traffic via the port of Kotka.
“We are well aware of that we never can compete about any larger volumes with Russia’s own ports, which is quite natural. We focus mainly at offering reliable and fast service for high-valued goods and in this way getting a share of the Russian traffic”.

//Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Latest update 26-10-2006 16:35

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