The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the port of Gdansk in the first quarter of 2020. The total cargo volumes handled by the port went down by 8.3 per cent compared to the same period last year. Transshipments in the Polish port recorded a the level of 11.3 million tonnes. Decreases were recorded in most cargo groups, apart from grain (+223 per cent), LPG (+27 per cent), and other bulk cargo (+6.4 per cent).

The following year-on-year decreases were recorded in the remaining cargo groups: fuels (-16.8 per cent), coal (-27.5 per cent), general cargo (-1.2 per cent), containers (-2.1 per cent) and Ro-Ro (-23.8 per cent). These figures were announced by the port of Gdansk.

In the 1st quarter of 2020, no cargo from the timber and ore groups was handled. The transshipment structure in the 1st quarter of 2020 was as follows: liquid bulk cargo: 29.7 per cent, dry bulk cargo: 23.8 per cent, general cargo: 46.5 per cent.

Vessels

In the 1st quarter of 2020, the number of commercial vessel calls at the Port of Gdansk was 764, which was an increase by 17 calls compared to the same period of 2019. At the same time, a lower average ship gross volume was recorded in 2020 than in the 1st quarter of 2019, primarily due to the lower number of calls of ocean container ships in March.

The largest terminal of Gdansk, DCT, said during a webinar organised by RailFreight.com that it witnessed a decline in the total volumes, as in the volumes coming from China. However, the volumes of cargo to China went up. And so did the rail freight volumes and rail freight share in DCT.

Global trend

The figures resemble those of the largest European port, the Port of Rotterdam, which recorded a year-on-year decrease at the level of -9.3 per cent. On the contrary, the second largest European port, Antwerp, recorded a year-on-year increase of +4 per cent.

“The phenomenon of the spreading coronavirus epidemic, which is reaching an increasing part of the world in terms of its territorial scope, has had an impact on the entire global economy and trade, reversing previous market trends and thus disrupting the established forecasts”, the port of Gdansk commented.

After summing up the 1st quarter of 2020, in spite of the decrease in the container transshipment volume, the Port of Gdansk still ranks second in the Baltic Sea in this category. It is only 87,557 TEU behind the leader in container transport in the Baltic Sea, the Port of St. Petersburg, which handled 561,950 TEU within the same period.

Rail Freight Summit in Poznan

At this year’s RailFreight Summit Poland, the port of Gdansk is represented in a panel discussion about the port of choice for Polish customers. Dominik Landa from the port of Port of Gdansk will enter a discussion with speakers from the port of Rotterdam, the port of Hamburg and of operators DB Cargo Polska and Real Logistics.

The Rail Freight Summit Poland takes place on 1, 2 and 3 September 2020 in Poznan. Registration is open and can be done here. The programme can be seen here.