The Neva Leader
North Western Shipping Company carried 5.8 million tonnes of cargo in 2017, up 3.5% Y-o-Y
The volume of waterborne freight transported by PAO North-Western Shipping Company (NWSC, part of UCL Holding) between January and December 2017, increased by 3.5%, year-on-year to 5.8 million tonnes.
Of the total traffic volume nearly 1.9 million tonnes (or 33%) were transported by NWSC’ 10 new 10 Amethyst class DCV36-series vessels and by 7 vessels of Neva-Leader class (RSD49 project).
In the reporting period UCL Holding’s North Western Shipping was engaged in transportation of the following commodities: 2.2 million tonnes of grain (+22%, year-on-year), 1.0 million tonnes of ferrous metal (+11%), 0.86 million tonnes of chemical and mineral fertilizers (+10%), 0.7 million tonnes of coal (+13%), 0.15 million tonnes of non-ferrous metals (-65%), 0.16 million tonnes of timber (-64%), and 0.74 million tonnes of other types of cargo.
The shift to coal and grain transportation was caused by favorable market conditions, the company says. The increase of ferrous material shipping was attributed to revival of the commodity shipping from the Sea Port of Saint-Petersburg to the ports of Baltic States and Poland. Shipping of fertilizers increased due to growth in demand in the markets of the Baltic and North Seas countries.
Another view of the Neva Leader
At the same time, volumes of transported non-ferrous metals plummeted since several vessels of the company were re-deployed for more profitable contracts. Timber volumes also shrank as processing of Russian round timber in Finland reduced and exporters switched the cargo flow from inland ports of the North-West to the seaport of Lomonosov.
More than 4.6 million tonnes (or 80% of total annual volume) transported by NWSC were outbound cargoes (+13% Y/Y). Exports included grain, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, coal, chemical and mineral fertilizers and timber.
Foreign-to-foreign trades reached 700 000 tonnes (17% of overall volume), which represents a 10-percent growth year-on-year.
Transportation of inbound cargo by the company dropped by 34% to 0.1 million tonnes, following a general reduction of imports to Russia from the EU. The import ratio in the general volume of traffic equaled to 1.7% during 9 months of the year of 2017.
In the reporting period the fleet of NWSC was not engaged in domestic inland shipping.
About North-Western Shipping
North-Western Shipping Company, is the largest carrier in the system of Russian waterborne transport, specializing in shipping of outbound and inbound bulk, general and project cargoes, in towage of oversize cargo and crafts. The company owns and operates a fleet of 47 mixed river-sea class vessels, 10 sea-going ships and 3 Ro-Ro river-sea barges. Total DWT of the Company’s fleet is 288,000 tonnes. About 70% of the fleet was built between 2002 and 2013. Average age of the NWSC’s fleet is 16.5 y.o. Annually, the carrier transports about 5 million tonnes of cargo.
NWSC is part of VBTH, a shipping division of the international transport group UCL Holding that consolidates several Russian shipping, railway, stevedore and logistics companies. The shipping division comprises Volga Shipping Company, V.F.Tanker and a number of shipbuilding assets.
