Container transportation in Russia

Container Shipping (Global Market)

Main article Container transportation (global market)

2023: Russian ports container turnover growth by 15% to TEU 4.72 million

Container cargo turnover of sea terminals in Russian ports in 2023 reached 4.72 million TEU (equivalent to a 20-foot container), which is 15.5% more than a year earlier. Such data for the entire market in January 2024 was cited by its largest participant, Global Ports.

As reported on the Global Ports website, the main factor in the growth of container turnover of Russian ports was the gradual recovery of the Russian economy after 2022 and the restoration of supply chains.

Container cargo turnover of sea terminals in Russian ports in 2023 reached 4.72 million TEU

Mortsentr-TEK cites similar market data: according to the company's estimates, the container turnover of Russian ports in 2023 amounted to 4.96 million TEU, which exceeds the 2022 figure by 15%. According to the materials of Mortsentr-TEK, container handling in 2023 increased by 27% year-on-year, to 1.1 million TEU, imported - by 23%, to 2 million TEU. Export container turnover increased by 3.9%, transit turnover - decreased by 21%, to 110 thousand. TEU.

The ports of the Far Eastern Basin increased container transshipment by 12%, to 2.57 million TEU. The ports of the Baltic Basin exceeded 1.22 million TEU, which is 13.8% higher than last year. Transshipment in the Azov-Black Sea basin reached a record level of over 1 million TEU. Transshipment in the Arctic basin decreased by 8.8%, to 165 thousand. TEU. According to the results of 2023, the turnover of the Caspian basin increased by 35% compared to 2022, to 10 thousand. TEU. In December 2023, container transshipment in the ports of the Russian Federation increased by 29% year-on-year, to 476 thousand. TEU.

Vitaly Klyuev, Director of the Department of State Policy in the Field of Marine and Inland Water Transport of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, estimated the cargo turnover of the country's seaports at 900 million tons in 2023, which, according to him, became an absolute record in the entire history of the USSR and Russia.^[1]

2022

The Russian container transportation market sank by 15.9%

The volume of Russian container transportation in 2022 decreased by 15.9% compared to 2021 and amounted to 5.5 million TEU (20-foot equivalent, a conventional unit of measurement of the capacity of freight vehicles). Such data are provided by the transport company Fesco.

She calculated that domestic container transportation in Russia remained at the level of 2021, amounting to 1.1 million TEU. Imports reached 2.1 million TEU, reduced by 12%, exports - 1.5 million TEU (-25%), transit decreased to 750 thousand. TEU (–23%).

Fesco announced a 15.9% reduction in the container market in Russia in 2022

As explained in Fesco, the key event that influenced the performance of the container market was the reorientation of goods from the ports of the North-West region to the Far East. Another factor was the shutdown of the largest container lines, which affected the availability of the markets of South Asia and Latin America. However, in the second half of 2022, there was an active restoration of the container market at the expense of new players, cargo flows and services, the company noted.

They also added that the only transit market with positive dynamics remained the Asian direction "Asia - Central Asia" through transportation from South Korea to Uzbekistan.

The container market of Russia includes foreign trade and transit container turnover of Russian ports, foreign trade and transit container turnover of land crossings on Russian Railways networks, domestic container transportation through the Russian Railways network and coaster transportation.

By the end of 2022, Transcontainer increased the volume of loaded traffic by 5.1%, to 1.8 million TEU. The company noted that exports grew by 11.3% and amounted to 0.7 million TEU, imports increased by 9.5%, to 0.4 million TEU. Transportation in domestic traffic increased by 1.1% and reached 0.5 million TEU.^[2]

8-Month Market Contraction by 15%

The Russian container market in January - August 2022 decreased by 15.6%. Imports fell by 16%, to 1.3 million TEU, exports - by 21%, to 1.1 million TEU. Transit transportation increased by 22%, to 493 thousand. TEU.

Record for the import of containers through Far Eastern ports - 64 thousand in August

64 thousand containers were imported in August through the Far Eastern ports, this is a historical record - the FCS.

Only 29% of the container fleet in Russia belongs to domestic owners

In August 2022, participants in the logistics market argue that the threat of a shortage of containers has not gone anywhere. Only 29% of the container fleet in Russia belongs to domestic owners. 31% of containers are owned by the Chinese, and 40% are containers of sea lines, which creates risks against the background of sanctions from some countries after the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine.

2021: The Russian container transportation market has soared 1.7 times in 5 years

In 2021, the volume of container cargo transportation in Russia reached 73.2 million tons, which is 1.7 times more than in 2017, when the indicator was measured 43.9 million tons. Such data are contained in a study that BusinesStat analysts released at the end of July 2022.

According to the report, in 2020-2021. quarantine restrictions associated with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic significantly slowed down global logistics, many supply chains were disrupted, but the container freight segment in Russia continued to grow. In 2020-2021 in Russia, cargo transportation in containers increased by 18% and 13.3%, respectively.

The container transportation market in the Russian Federation has soared 1.7 times in 5 years

The main contribution to the growth of the market was made by railway container transportation. Due to the pandemic, there was a redistribution of transit cargo flows along the AsiaEurope route - Asia from the sea to the Russian railway. Railway transport has become the most reliable way to move goods in containers due to the observance of delivery times and the availability of rolling stock. Subsidizing transit railway container transportation by the state provided attractive tariffs for foreign customers and a sufficient rate of profit for Russian operators, the researchers note.

According to them, over 5 years by 2021, the range of goods suitable for containerization has expanded. These began to include wood, non-ferrous metals, steel, coal. The low base effect (containers accounted for only 1.4-2.4% of the Russian freight market in 2017-2021) made the market growth rapid.

Analysts believe that the introduction by Western countries of sanctions against Russia due to a military special operation on the territory of Ukraine led to a slowdown in foreign economic activity and a large-scale restructuring of logistics flows inside and outside Russia. The fall in cargo transportation due to a decrease in import, export and transit cargo flows in Russia will least affect container transportation.^[3]

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