The group of companies based at the Port of St Petersburg in Russia haverevealed that total cargo handling came in at 2.2m tonnes through the first quarter of 2011, marking a fall of some 14 per cent year-on-year.
According to the group of stevedoring companies based at the port, unfavourable, icy conditions during the winter in the Gulf of Finland pushed export turnover down by 30 per cent to 1.6m tonnes.
Despite the conditions, no limits were applied on operations, meaning some 400,000 tonnes of cargo accumulated at the storage grounds of the SPSP group, with these volumes expected to compensate for the first-quarter turnover decrease.
Import cargo doubled when compared with the same period of 2010, hitting 619,000 tonnes, with reefer volumes soaring to 142,000 tonnes.
