Szczecin-Świnoujście port reduced iron ore transshipment by 50.3% y/y in January-September

In January-September 2023, the port complex of Poland Szczecin-Świnoujście reduced the transshipment of iron ore by 50.3% compared to the same period in 2022 – to 939.1 thousand tons. This is evidenced by data published on webhsite.

In September 2023, the port processed 84.1 thousand tons of iron ore raw materials, which is 72.7% more compared to September 2022.

In general, in January-September, the port complex increased cargo transshipment by 1.3% compared to January-September 2022 – up to 27 million tons. In September, transshipment volumes decreased by 8.8% y/y – to 2.89 million tons.

Among the main cargoes handled by the port during the period:

• coal – 2.62 million tons (+0.4% y/y);
• grain – 1.96 million tons (+55.7% y/y);
• gas – 3.45 million tons (+14.3% y/y).

Container handling by the port for January-September 2023 amounted to 52.6 thousand TEU (-2.8% y/y).

In 2022, Szczecin-Świnoujście increased transshipment of iron ore by 11.4% compared to 2021 – up to 2.11 million tons. In December, processing of iron ore decreased by 67.4% y/y – to 57.1 thousand tons. Overall, the port complex increased transshipment of cargo by 10.8% year-on-year – up to 36.8 million tons.

Since the beginning of the war, Ukrainian steelmakers have completely directed the export of products to Europe by rail. The blockade of the ports left for the Ukrainian steel sector only this direction of product shipment, which is several times more expensive, and the product delivery time is much longer.

At the end of May, the Polish port of Swinoujscie sent the first batch with 30 thousand tons of Ukrainian iron ore. The raw materials were delivered to the port by rail and sent to the customer in Algeria. At that time, there were more than 50,000 tons of Ukrainian iron ore on the port berths.

As GMK Center reported, Ukrzaliznytsia in 2022 reduced transportation of iron and manganese ores by 45.9 million tons, or by 59.2%, compared to the same period last year – to 31.7 million tons. The ferrous metals decreased by 57.8% y/y – to 9.2 million tons.